He moved side to side, reminding me of a boxer bouncing around, though the moves were slight, barely noticeable. He seemed jittery.
“Are you on drugs or something?” I asked quietly, without malice.
“What? No! Shit, you’re crazy.”
I’d been called worse, so I ignored the comment. “Well, then start acting—”
“What? Nice?”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t care if you’re nice, but stop being such a brute. Stop hitting me like you’re trying to hurt me.”
“Can’t take a little punch? I thought you were supposed to be tougher than that.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I said, “Says who?”
“Everyone. Anyone.”
“I don’t care what everyone says. I never said I was tough, and I’ve never done a thing to you, so stop being an ass. Do you even have a reason for it? I mean, really? If you do, spit it out.”
His mouth opened, closed, opened again. That confused look was back, followed by one of concentration, like he had to think about why he didn’t like me. Finally, he made his face expressionless, then said, “Because I’m tired of hearing everyone talk about you like you’re the second coming or something.”
“Are you related to Rachel?” I murmured quietly. Even if they didn’t share blood, they seemed to share the same hate-on-Jade gene.
His eyebrow shot up, and I saw the you’re-crazy look cross his face again. “Who?”
I shook my head. “Never mind.”
He’d basically said the same crap he’d said last time I’d opened my mouth, so why had I expected something different? Because you’re a stupid, stupid girl, a little voice whispered. I hated that it was mine. More, I hated that it was right.
I shouldn’t have said anything at all, I realized that now. But I’d been putting up with it for too long and he was only getting worse. If something didn’t give, and soon, I was going to be forced to ask to switch partners, because one of us was going to end up hurt, and it was likely going to be me.
When Mr. Connor called the end of class, I turned my back on Brian and went to grab a bottle of water from the far side of the room, mostly to avoid him and to give myself something to do with my hands. I had to remind myself, over and over, that hitting him wasn’t a good idea. And strangling him would probably be even worse.
He was bigger, meaner, and, I thought as I rolled my shoulder, a lot stronger.
“You’re not special,” I heard Brian call out.
I didn’t bother turning around, but I did respond with, “Never said I was,” and kept walking away. No response probably would have been better, but I was tired, and what I’d said beat the response I really wanted to give, which would have set him off even more, probably. What I’d really wanted to say was something pithy, like, “Keep telling yourself that, buddy.” Or something else. Something witty.
Linc joined me and grabbed a bottle of water from the table. He eyed me as he twisted the lid off and took a deep gulp. He set the bottle aside. “Want to talk about it?”
I frowned. “No.” I glanced in the direction of the door as Brian all but shoved his way out. “I just want to kick his ass.”
“I’m okay with that plan.”
“I didn’t realize you had such a violent side.”
“Hey, it was your idea. I was just willing to help out.” His smile was sly. “For you, of course.”
I snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure it was only for me.” I took another drink, frowned again. “You don’t like him any more than I do.”
“No, I don’t.” He shrugged. “He’s an asshole.”
I nodded my agreement. “No argument there.”
“Can I see?”
“See what?”
“Where he hit you, Hall.” Linc’s tone was a little harder than usual, his eyes darker.
“Oh. Um, sure.” I pulled aside the top of my shirt and glanced down. “It’s not that bad,” I said, eyeing the still-red and slightly bruised spot forming.
He placed his hand over mine, keeping me from covering my shoulder back up. His fingers gently traced the bruise. “You’re bruising.”
“It happens,” I told him, not meeting his gaze.
“I’ve known you for months, Jade. I also know that you don’t bruise, or rarely do.” As he spoke, he carefully pulled my shirt back over so it covered my shoulder. “You get sore, and then you’re okay. But you don’t bruise.”
“He just caught me at a weird angle.”
His eyes were incredibly dark now and his fingers were curled into fists. “You need to switch partners, with me or someone else.”
“I know,” I said, then I sighed. “But I’m not a quitter, and I know asking for a different partner isn’t really quitting, but it feels like it would be. I’ll give it a while longer and see how it goes. If he’s still a jerk, then I’ll at least talk to Mr. Connor and see what he thinks.”
“Either you do something about it or I will.” That hard edge in his tone was back, dangerously low.
A small part of me smiled at the protectiveness. It was nice having someone who would stand up for me. But a larger part—a more sane part—didn’t want Linc getting in the middle of it. The last thing I wanted was him—or Brian—to get kicked out because of me. One person on my conscience was more than enough. And I really didn’t want more friends of dumb people harassing me for other dumb people’s dumb choices.
“I—”
“Come on,” Linc said before I could comment or argue. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the door.
I waved at Mr. Connor as I went. Linc and I had talked long enough that most of the class had already piled out, probably headed to the café court.
Linc and I went to the elevator and he pressed the button to call for it. When the doors opened a minute later, before we’d even had a chance to move, Rachel and her friends came out of nowhere and brushed me aside to step in. Rachel punched one of the buttons, smiled. “Oops. This one’s full,” she said in a sickly sweet tone. The others waved as the doors slid shut.
“They’re going to push me too far,” I said through clenched teeth.
Linc squeezed my hand briefly and then wrapped his arm around my waist. He tugged me close. “Don’t worry about them. They’re just jealous.”
I was getting really tired of hearing about people being jealous of me. What was the point in it? My life wasn’t perfect—far from it. And it wasn’t all fun. I worked my butt off, studied nearly every waking hour, had more checkups than anyone else, and in my limited spare time, I got cussed out, tripped, ‘accidentally’ bumped into, and had things knocked out of my hands. My reflexes were pretty quick, so I hadn’t dropped anything yet, thankfully. Unthankfully, it only incensed Rachel and her gang.
I sighed. “I’m just going to go study until it’s time for dinner. I’ll meet you at the café court later, okay?”
Linc raised an eyebrow. “Think you’re gonna get rid of me that easy, Hall? Think again.”
“Linc…”
“Let’s go, Hall. You can take one night off from studying and spend some time with me.”
“I’m always with you.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Studying. We need some us time, you know? Just to talk. All work and no play, yadda, yadda.” His hand was still around my waist, so he just turned us around and headed for the window that led to the catwalk. “We haven’t been to the catwalk in a while.” He shifted to look at me directly. “Unless you really want some alone time.”
“No, I don’t. Sorry, I’m just grumpy. Not sleeping well and people just keep—”
“Being themselves?”
I laughed. “That sounds mean, but yeah. Some of the P1s have heard things and now they’re cornering me whenever they get a chance. They all have little lists of questions, I swear. The little Probies.”
“’Probies’?”
“Yeah. Probies. Because they probe for information.”
Linc snickered. “I like it. Good one, Hall.�
�� When we were seated on the beam, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “What do they ask you? The Probies?”
I made a face. “How did I pass so quickly, did I cheat, and if I did, how. The lists go on and on. Did I really get bitten by a vampire, am I a vampire.” I rolled my eyes. “I swear, I’m tempted to find some fake fangs and bite the next one that asks me that.” I shot him a curious look. “Why do they ask me that? Doesn’t everyone know? I mean, they seem to know everything else.”
Linc frowned. “Director Greene really didn’t get into a lot of details about what happened when you were attacked. Besides, he lied to everyone, remember? Including you, when he’d said you’d been scratched by a vampire and not bitten. He never changed his story after that. He just said you’d been hurt, Felecia had been the cause, and blah blah, act right or leave.”
I gaped at him. “They don’t know? How can they not? Tasha knew.”
“Tasha knew you were hurt—she doesn’t know everything. And she only knows you were hurt because she threatened to club me if I didn’t tell her what was going on. She hits hard.” He shrugged. “Besides, I needed someone to help me try to sneak in to see you.”
“What, she was your wing man? Er, woman.”
“Basically.”
“You never told me any of this. Why?”
He shrugged again. “You had a lot going on, and you never really seemed anxious to talk about it or anything else that had to do with that week.” Leaning forward, he rested his head against mine. “For someone who was usually chatty, you were remarkably tight lipped throughout summer break.”
“Guess I was. Sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
“When Greene told me about my mom and dad—that they were agents and had had the treatments—it just hit me weird. Their DNA—my DNA—is what kept me from dying.” I sighed. “Greene asked if I wanted to know what demons I—what demon DNA I have. I said no.”
“You don’t want to know?”
I rolled my shoulders, sighed again. “I don’t know. Part of me is a little curious—who wouldn’t be? But another part of me just wants to keep not thinking about it. I’ve done pretty good not thinking about it the last few months.” Except that was mostly a lie. I may not have talked about it, but I did think about it. And write about it in my journal. I wanted to skip ahead in mom’s journals and see how she’d dealt with the treatments, but I was still keeping to my daily readings. “Maybe I’ll ask about it sometime. Doc seems to think it explains all my weird stuff.”
“You mean the fact that you’re the laziest person at the CGE, yet the fastest runner?”
“Nice tact there, Stone. How do you lay it on so thick?”
“I didn’t mean that as bad as it sounded, but…you hate exercise. You hate it almost as much as getting your blood drawn. It’s been months and you still try to weasel your way out of the appointments.”
“I do not.”
He made a pfft sound. “Last week.”
“That was because I was nauseous.”
“Because you worked yourself up over it. You’re full of excuses, Hall, and they’re all bad ones.”
I opened my mouth, then shut it. I opened it again. “Damn you. I hate it when you’re right.”
“It’s another one of my skills. Like kissing.”
I frowned. “Do you think about that?”
“About what?”
“That you’re kissing someone who is part demon.” I looked away, out to the skyline. “Because I am. Part demon, I mean.”
“Only the sexy parts.”
I let out a loud laugh and then slapped a hand over my mouth. And then I slapped his arm. “I can’t believe you said that.”
“What? If all demons looked like you, I’d be retired before I ever started hunting.”
“Linc!”
“I’m serious.”
I shuddered. “I can’t imagine having lots of mes wondering around. That’s kind of freaky.”
“Kinda cool. I could handle that.”
“Then you’d get slapped by millions of Jades on a daily basis.”
He scratched his head. After a second, he nodded. “You’re right. No Jade clones. I wouldn’t last a day.”
I snorted and rolled my eyes. “You’re optimistic. You wouldn’t last an hour.”
“Please. You—and all your clones—wouldn’t be able to resist my charm.”
I wouldn’t admit it, especially now, to his face, but he did have an abundance of charm. But what I could admit… “Someday, that charm is going to get your butt kicked.”
“It usually does. By you.”
That made me smile. “This is true. Sometimes I like it when you’re right.” I let out another sigh. “But I was serious about the demon thing. It’s an ick factor.”
“Not really. When we’re allowed to, I’m going to sign up for the treatments. Are you going to stop kissing me because I’m part demon?”
“I don’t kiss you now. You’re usually the kisstigator.”
“Kisstigator?”
“Yeah. You’re the one who instigates the kisses. You’re the kisstigator.”
He shook his head at me sadly. “You were ahead with the Probie term. That one just set you back a few.”
“A few what?”
“A few sexy points.”
“Oh, please. My demony half doesn’t lose me sexy points, but a dumb word does?”
“Exactly. I can handle the demony half, but I can’t handle that level of lameness.”
I didn’t say anything else. He’d officially shocked me into silence. He couldn’t handle stupid words and my so-called lameness, but he could handle the demonness? I wasn’t even handling the demonness very well. “You’re a weird one, Stone.”
“As long as you’re not more than three-quarters demon, we’re good. After that, we’ll have to re-discuss the issue.”
I let out a laugh and hoped he didn’t hear the strain in it. I had no idea what percentage of demon I actually was. And, while I knew he meant it as a joke, it left me with a sick feeling in my stomach, like something slimy was wiggling around inside.
How much demon was I anyway? A quarter? Half? A third?
It was a question I didn’t have the answer to. But it was time to find out. Soon.
Maybe.
*~*~*
The rest of the week went okay, until I had my appointment with Doc. It was the last appointment of November, which meant it was a big one and it was even more annoying (something I hadn’t been sure was actually possible). Doc insisted on testing my eyes and hearing, along with my stamina, and whatever else she could think of—including some memory thing.
And then she put me back on the treadmill for another three miles. When I was done, I stepped off and took a sip of water. Doc was eyeing her tablet oddly, then she flicked her gaze to me. Linc saw the look and stared at her.
I set the bottle aside and dropped my hands to the side. “What? You’ve been acting weird since I got here.”
Doc kept her eyes on the tablet for another minute, then she looked up. “Your numbers are…strangely good.”
“Stranger than normal?” Linc asked. “Than her normal, that is?”
“Yes. I’m concerned with them.”
Linc’s eyes darted from me to Doc and back again, but he didn’t ask another question.
I frowned. “Why are you concerned?”
“Not necessarily bad concerned,” she said, speaking slowly.
“There’s more than one type?” If you asked me, there was really only one definition of the word and it was hardly ever used in a good way, especially at the CGE.
“It might be better if we talk about this privately,” Doc said quietly.
“I’ll just tell him, anyway. So he might as well stay.”
She didn’t seem that surprised by my answer. “Your DNA scan from last week came back and, well, it’s changing. Again.”
“What do you mean changing again? Into what?” I bit back my panic and toss
ed my hands in the air. “Seriously, if I’m turning into a vampire or some blob monster or something, I’m gonna be really mad.”
“Jade, we’ve already told you you’re not turning into a vampire or some blob monster. And really, a blob?” She eyed Linc. “Let me guess, another old movie?”
Linc actually blushed. Almost. He turned his head to the side.
Doc shook her head at him and then met my gaze. “Do you really think that if you were turning into something you’d be walking around, free to come and go as you please? Do you really think Director Greene, or even Dr. As—Hamilton, would let you go to classes or come here for exams?”
Okay, so she had a point. Dr. Asshat probably would’ve had me locked up if he suspected anything remotely weird. “Fine. Then just spell it out for me.”
“Your numbers on the treadmill are getting better. Your speed is getting faster; your stamina is lasting longer. Your eyesight and hearing are improving. These are changes we typically only see in agents who’ve had the genetic treatments.”
“But you already knew that. It’s because of my parents’ treatments.”
“Yes and no. I just assumed you were getting used to your…abilities, for lack of a better term. You’ve been running more and exercising more since you joined, right?” I nodded. “Okay, well, I thought that was why. If you don’t use a muscle, it atrophies. It basically whithers away. I assumed you were improving because you were working out more.”
“But she always uses her eyes and ears,” Linc said. “So that can’t really atrophy or whatever, right?”
“Again, yes and no. Your training requires more focus. You have to use all of your senses more, including sight and hearing.” At our shocked looks, she added, “I know what classes you have and what you do in them, for crying out loud. Just because I’m taking med courses, it doesn’t mean I’m oblivious to everything else.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Now, do you want to know what’s on my mind, or do you want to continue to ogle me like one of your blob monsters?”
“Sorry,” we both said quietly.
“Good. Now, Dr. Hamilton’s theory—” I groaned at the name, but Doc just continued on. “—is that the vampire bite changed something.”
Breed of Envy (The Breed Chronicles, #02) Page 13
