Even if it meant dealing with said Awkward Crap.
He rose from his bed and started toward me. My stomach turned into a pit of dread. He stopped a few feet from me, shoved one of his hands into his pockets. “What do you know about Sawthorn demons?”
I let out an internal sigh. “What do you need to know?”
He frowned. “Everything,” he muttered.
I grinned. “I just happen to know that.”
The Pristidade demon, or better known as the Sawthorn demon, had saw-like arms with inch-long thorns down the sides. They were classified as a C3 because they were mean, vicious, and difficult to kill. And Linc was going to go up against it.
He might not’ve wanted my help before, and he might’ve been taking it begrudgingly now, but I’d spent the majority of my time studying everything I could about this damn demon. It wasn’t mine, but I’d still wanted to learn everything I could about it.
I took the chair at his desk, turning it so it faced the bed, and set my tablet down. “Let’s get to work.”
By the time he was ready for whatever tests Greene had for him, Linc would know everything I knew.
I’d make sure of it.
*~*~*
Linc and I basically studied the night away. Or, rather, he studied and I asked questions until he could give me the answers. We’d ended up on his bed, sitting next to each other, and somehow, we both fell asleep. When I woke up, I had a brief moment of what-the-heck when I realized I wasn’t in my room. I was curled up with my head resting on Linc’s arm and one of his legs was over mine
I blinked until my eyes focused and then rubbed them. I had to use the bathroom. Bad. But I wasn’t sure how to go about it without waking Linc, so I lay there another five minutes, and then I almost cursed. Quietly, without moving too much, I wiggled out of his grasp and tiptoed my way to the bathroom. After I took care of the immediate issue, I washed my hands and borrowed some of Linc’s mouthwash to rinse my mouth.
I opened the bathroom door and snuck back out. I’d started to head for the door, to go back to my room, but I found Linc blinking at me sleepily. “Hi,” he said, his voice thick with sleep.
“Hi.”
He yawned (which made me yawn in return). “Is it morning already?”
“I think it was morning when we fell asleep. I don’t know what time it is.” But I was guessing it was early—or late—since the light outside was already bright.
“We don’t have classes then, right?”
“Right.”
“And no where else to go?”
I didn’t answer straight away, because my brain was still fuzzy. “Uh…no. I don’t think?” It was Friday, but since it was Christmas, I’d gotten a free get-out-of-your-appointment-with-Doc card.
“Good enough for me. Come on.” He patted the space beside him.
“We’re—” Fighting still, I wanted to say, but what came out was, “I should probably go—”
“Just do what you’re told for once.”
I thought about it a second and then just shrugged. Why not? It wasn’t like I had anything I really needed to do. Even if we were still fighting or whatever, we could put it off for a few more hours. I crawled back in next him. I tried to give him some space, but he just pulled me closer, tucking my head against his chest. And within seconds, I swore he was back asleep and snoring.
CHAPTER 12
The next time I woke up, I found Linc staring down at me. “What? Was I snoring like you?”
“I don’t snore.”
I scoffed. “Try telling that to someone who didn’t fall asleep with you.”
He grinned. “Fair enough.” He pushed up so he was resting on his elbows. “So.”
“So.” And the Awkward Crap is back, filled with even more awkwardness.
He rolled away and sat up on the side of the bed. I’d been mostly warm until then, but once he moved, I was cold—both physically and mentally. I knew I should’ve just gone when I woke up before, I thought, sighing. I sat up, brushed my hair out of my face. I scooted to the edge of the bed, stood up and started for the door.
“Where are you going?”
“Oh. Um, back to my room. I should—”
“Stop saying the same thing over and over. Sit back down. I haven’t even given you your present yet.”
I frowned. “What present?”
He rolled his eyes. “And you’re supposed to be the smart one? Your Christmas present, Hall.”
My stomach sank. I hadn’t even thought to get him anything. We’d been fighting and I hadn’t gone to New Orlando on the last class trip. “But I didn’t get you anything,” I whispered.
Linc just shrugged. “You helped me study, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but that didn’t cost anything.”
“It’s not about the money. It meant a lot that you helped, especially when you didn’t know I’d gotten you anything. And if it makes you feel any better, it’s just a stupid little thing. It’s not like I agonized over what to get you. Much.”
“That’s not really helping.”
“Oh well.” His grin was wicked and fast. “I guess I have something to hold over your head for a while then, don’t I?” He patted the seat beside him. “Now come over here and sit down.”
I did as he asked, mainly because I would’ve looked even stupider saying no.
“Like I said, it’s not much.” He got up, went to his dresser, and then dug through the second drawer. “I know it’s here somewhere,” he muttered under his breath. “Ah, here we go.” He pulled out a paper bag. Scratching his head, he walked back to me and sat down. He shoved the bag at me awkwardly. “I saw it and thought you’d like it.”
Not much, I thought. Pfft. It was the first present I’d gotten in two years, unless I counted the black eye Jennifer gave me last Christmas because I’d bumped into her stumbling my way to the bathroom. She hadn’t been too pleased, despite my apology.
I glanced down at the bag. After a second, I looked up, grinned. “Nice wrapping, Stone.”
His smile was a little bit bashful, a little bit mischievous. He shrugged. “I don’t do wrapping. Besides, I figured you’d either be one of those girls that dug in, ripping the paper from here to next Christmas, or you’d save it and keep it tucked under your bed or something.”
“Don’t worry. I don’t hide wrapping paper under my bed.” But I will hide it with my mom’s journals.
Normally, I didn’t save it at all. I was the rip-it-open-and-toss-it-away type. Not this time, though. This time I was saving it. But he didn’t need to know that.
“Go on,” he said, hitting my knee with his. “Open it. I want to make sure it’s okay.”
I would have reassured him and told him that it didn’t matter what it was because I would treasure it—and it would’ve been true—but I didn’t want to sound all girly and wish-washing. Plus, he wouldn’t have believed me, anyway.
I bit my lip, took a breath, and—carefully—reached into the bag. My fingers touched something cool and hard. It fit easily into my palm. What the heck was it? I wondered, frowning in concentration. Keeping my hand closed around the present, I laid the bag on the other side of me, away from Linc in case he got any ideas to throw it away before I could stash it. Once it was safely out of his reach, I opened my hand. The present was…
I looked up, raised an eyebrow. “Lipstick?” I wasn’t exactly disappointed or anything, but I wasn’t a big lipstick kinda gal, either. I only wore makeup if I was forced to. I mean, what was the point wearing it here? We only had one class that didn’t involve getting knocked around or sweating like a pig, so trying to hide my face was kind of pointless when everyone had seen me at my worst.
Linc just grinned at me. “Is it your color?”
Did I have a color? “Oh, um…” I twisted the cap. It didn’t budge. “Apparently it’s smarter than I am—oh, there it goes.” I twisted the bottom part until the lipstick came up. The shade was actually kind of pretty—a medium, kinda sparkly,
pinkish color. “It’s pretty,” I said, and meant it.
“I’m glad.”
I glanced at Linc. His grin was about to crack his face wide open. My eyes narrowed. “What are you grinning at?”
“I knew you wouldn’t figure it out.”
“What are you talking about? I got it open, didn’t I?” Barely, but I had.
He motioned with his fingers to hand it over, so I did. He twisted the tube until the lipstick was back down and replaced the cap. The middle of the case had a small green stone on one side and a black stone on the other. When he twisted the green stone, a narrow blade popped out at the bottom of the tube. Still grinning, he said, “But that’s not all it does.” He turned the casing in his hand, then pressed the black stone. Now, at the top, a small beam of light shone out.
As he handed it back, I studied it in awe. I’d seen the nano technology around here before, so it wasn’t exactly new to me anymore, but this was so tiny and… “Awesome. It’s just…awesome.”
“It has one rule that goes with it.”
“You put a rule on the gift? How does that work?”
“Yeah, it has a rule. You can’t use it on me or think of using it on me.”
“That’s technically two rules—”
“Jade.”
“What? Well, it is.”
He rolled his eyes. “Fine. Then it has two rules.”
I made a face at him. “I’m mean but I’m not murderous. Besides,” I said slowly, smiling now, “I get more satisfaction out of hitting you.”
“I believe that.” He shook his head. “Charlie had some stuff lying around—stuff that we can actually get our hands on,” he added, trying not to sound bitter. He just wished we could use more weapons. “I saw that, he let me buy it, and then I saw the case on a trip in New Orlando. He put it together for me. I figured you weren’t the makeup type, but it had jade and onyx stones—or so the lady said—and I thought it’d be—”
“Awesome.”
He gave me a half-grin. “Something like that. So you really like it?”
“I love it. It’s great.” Twisting the jade stone to retract the blade, I set it aside and then practically leapt across the bed to wrap my arms around his neck. “Thanks, Linc. I really, really love it.”
“Thanks for helping me study.”
I nodded. “Anytime.”
“Now come on. Let’s go get some breakfast. Or whatever food that corresponds with the time. I’m starving.”
I grabbed the lipstick and put it in my pocket as I stood up. Linc made a grab for the paper bag but I knocked his hand away. “Mine.”
“It’s trash.”
“It’s my trash. Leave it.”
His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “You’re going to go girly on me and keep it, aren’t you?”
“Damn straight,” I said with a single nod.
He just shook his head. “Fair enough. And Jade?”
I’d been busy folding the bag in half, so I paused and looked up. “Yeah?”
He gave me a warm smile. “Merry Christmas.”
I loved his grins and his sexy smirks, but the smiles like that one—the sweet, warm ones—did me in and made my heart melt. Something inside me loosened, like a big knot in a muscle that finally eased. “Merry Christmas, Linc.”
*~*~*
The rest of Christmas break went a lot better than the first half, even though Linc and I didn’t actually do much besides study. He had his nightly training sessions with Peter, and then we spent a few hours studying what we could on his demon. Plus, we still had the Demonology report due in a few months. (Linc said that was plenty of time. Naturally, I was worried it wasn’t enough.)
Even though we were busy, we were talking and hanging out together, so I was happier. We hadn’t really talked much about us—assuming there was an actual ‘us’ to be discussed—so on that front, things were kind of at a standpoint. I didn’t bring it up, because I wasn’t sure I wanted to. The whole fight between us really made me realize that depending on people all the time wasn’t a good thing. And I couldn’t not depend on him, especially if we were all make-outy, so I just never brought it up. I think he’d tried to a time or two, but I always changed the subject before he could.
Classes started back up on the 4th of January, despite the protest of many Prospects who wanted their vacation to continue. I was fine with it being over (though Tasha and Linc weren’t at all surprised by my so-called ‘crazy talk’) because it meant things would, hopefully, get back to normal. Or as normal as they could get. I wasn’t picky. I would’ve settled with normaler. (Linc and Tasha both said it wasn’t a real word, and I knew that, but I still liked it.)
And to make things even better, I didn’t have Brian as my partner in Combat anymore. After our, er, argument in class, Mr. Connor gave me a new partner. It wasn’t Linc as I’d hoped, or even a guy, but some dark haired girl I never really talked to—Natalie Pierce. We still didn’t talk much, but we didn’t have any issues, either, so I was content.
Linc’s demon-hunting date had been pushed to February—assuming they still had a lead on the demon by then. Linc didn’t seem to mind as much as I thought he would. According to him, it just gave him more time to study. He was okay with being more prepared.
But as the date edged closer and closer, he started to get more and more anxious. More and more restless or nervous. Heck, probably everything. I was getting more and more anxious for him, and it was his demon, not mine.
It was the beginning of February now and they’d found the demon about forty miles north of New Orlando. The demon seemed to stick to the same place for a week before moving on, so Linc was set to go the day after tomorrow, on Saturday.
“You ready?” I asked him. The second the words left my mouth, I felt a sudden sense of déjà vu. How many times had he said those exact words to me? It was weird saying them to him.
He nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I am.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. He was still nodding, even ten seconds later. He was sitting at his desk, his left leg tapping the ground quickly, over and over. I laid my hand on his knee. “Breathe.”
“What?” He tapped for another few seconds, then he seemed to realize what he was doing and stopped. “Shit.”
“You’ll do fine. You know everything, Linc.”
He didn’t say anything for a minute, but then he looked at me, his blue gaze locking with mine. “You’re going with me, aren’t you?”
My eyes went wide before I could stop them. We hadn’t discussed that at all. “I didn’t help you so you’d have me go with you. It’s your demon, Linc.”
“I know, but—”
I just shook my head. I…appreciated the thought, I really did, but he’d made his position pretty clear about the whole thing. “You’re better off by yourself, Linc,” I said, and then, to keep myself from meeting his gaze, I started to gather my stuff. “It’s getting late. I should probably sleep.”
Linc beat me to the door. The boy could move fast when he wanted to.
“Linc, I need to go.”
“No, you don’t.” He leaned against the door, crossed one leg over the other, and crossed his arms over his chest. His I-mean-business look was plastered on his face. “What’s going on with you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, still refusing to meet his gaze.
“You’ve been acting…off. Not like Halloween off, but distant. I can handle the moody stuff, but you’re not moody. You’re just…just. You’re not really anything.”
I rolled my eyes. “Gee, thanks.”
“You know I didn’t mean it like that.” He pushed away from the door, though he still stood in front of it, blocking my escape. “You’re just really distant, and that’s not like you.”
“I don’t want to fight.” Really, really couldn’t handle another one.
“We’re not going to fight. Just tell me what’s going on with you. Come on,” he said, taking my arm and leading me away from my e
xit. He pushed me back on the bed, then sat in his computer chair, rolling it until he was in front me and still managing to block me in. “Talk.”
I sighed. “There’s nothing to talk about. I’m just tired.”
He gave me that look that said he didn’t believe me. “Is this about our fight before? Because I was an ass and said I didn’t want you to go with me?”
I wanted to lie, to say no, that it had nothing to do with that. But it did. It had everything to do with that. It had everything to do with him, the fight, and how he acted afterward. How he walked away whenever I came near him, how he just ignored me in Combat class that day when I went off on Brian.
Hadn’t I gone to him when I knew he needed help, despite everything else? It was petty of me, and I knew it was, but I couldn’t help but feel a little bitter that he couldn’t have been bothered saying one word to me until I offered to help him.
I wasn’t even mad at him about any of it. I was just hurt. And sad. And I still am, I thought, though I hadn’t really consciously realized it until then.
“Look, Jade, I’m sorry about it. I didn’t mean what I said. It was just—”
“Not my business,” I answered. “I get it, Linc. It’s okay. And you don’t need to apologize for it. You were right.” And he was. I didn’t—hadn’t—expected an apology or even wanted one. He hadn’t been wrong about that night, because it was his business. It still was.
“Jade…”
“What do you want me to say, Linc? I’m not mad at you, about any of it.”
“Then what gives? You don’t talk to me anymore.”
“Please,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I talk to you all the time. I see you more than I see my own room.”
“You study with me. You talk demons with me. You don’t tell me anything about you. You don’t even let me go with you to your appointments with Doc anymore.”
“I can’t do it anymore.”
“Do what?”
Breed of Envy (The Breed Chronicles, #02) Page 17
