by S. E. Babin
“What?” I poured a massive amount of syrup over my waffle and cut it ferociously.
“Are you sure you want to sit here?” Aaron said. He stared at me with wide eyes. “We heard about the door.”
Masters had the gall to laugh. “Shit, man, the whole student body heard about the door.”
I groaned through a mouthful of waffle. “I deserved it.”
Aaron’s eyes narrowed. “No you didn’t, Penelope. That was—”
I held up a hand. “Don’t even say it. Look, I’m already in the dog house, but we both know there’s nothing going on, so I’m not going to change my way of life to make him feel better.”
“Even Tiresias could see that Watson is half in love with you,” Masters said after he took a sip of his coffee.
I blinked. “You’re a Greek mythology man?”
He waggled his eyebrows. “This is not just another pretty face, Miss Penelope.”
Aaron grinned. “Sure isn’t.”
I shoved Aaron good-naturedly. “Maybe we could swap books one day,” I offered.
“It would be my pleasure,” Masters said.
I tilted my head and studied him. He seemed like someone I’d like to have at my side. “Have you ever thought about leaving COTO?”
“Figured I already had with that ridiculous DAR stunt we pulled.”
I laughed. “How about staying here with us?”
Masters met my open gaze with a measured one of his own. “I won’t be leaving your side until you produce your side of the deal,” he said.
I swallowed. Yep. Maybe not a friend just yet. “Of course,” I said as the good humor fled the table and the worries of the day caught up with us.
“Have you seen Watson this morning?” Masters asked.
I shook my head. “I’ll need to find him later on.”
“I’d like to be a fly on the wall,” Aaron said.
Masters shut Aaron up with a look. He held his hands up and chuckled. “Fine, fine. Just teasing her.”
“You’ve done enough. It’s time for business now.”
I really did like Masters. We went over the plan one more time. Everyone knew their roles. I grilled Aaron about not poking me a hundred times with the IV line. He gave me his best innocent look. “Then don’t make me mad today,” he quipped.
“I have a gun,” I said in response.
“Me, too.” Aaron grinned.
After we finished breakfast, I reluctantly went to find Watson.
I found him in his quarters, shirtless, in athletic pants, kicking the crap out of a punching bag he’d lowered from the ceiling. His moves were a blur and the punching bag shook and shimmied with each ferocious kick he delivered. I leaned against the wall and watched him for a while, marveling over the play of muscles in his lean back and his intense look of concentration. After about ten minutes, Watson stopped, his back to me.
“What do you want, Penelope?”
I startled. I hadn’t known he knew I was there. “To talk.”
He bent down and grabbed a towel close to his water bottle. “You weren’t very talkative yesterday.”
That damned pause. I sighed. “I know and I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what? Liking him?”
I crossed my arms. “No. For hurting you.”
His shoulders tensed as he wiped the exertion off. I took a step closer to him. “There is no one on Earth I want to hurt less than you.” I touched his shoulder.
“We’ve already established we aren’t in a relationship. Let’s just call that an anomaly. A blip on our radar that won’t happen again.” His face twisted into a grimace of a smile. “We have business to attend to tonight. Are you prepared?” He shrugged my hand off and bent to pick up his water. Watson turned to face me.
Anger etched itself into the lean crags of his skin. Anger at me. I nodded. “I went over the plan with Aaron and Masters this morning.”
It was the worst thing I could have said.
“Aaron, hmm?” Watson stepped away from me. “How is Aaron this morning?”
“Listen to yourself,” I whispered.
His jaw tightened. “Meet me in the lab in the western corridor at six this evening. I will spend the rest of the day trying to find Lila. Do not dally, Penelope. This is important.”
I scoffed. “Of course I know it’s important. I didn’t just suddenly forget everything, Watson.”
“Didn’t you?” Watson turned and left me standing there, hurt and confused.
Chapter 28
Despite all my personal drama, we had a ton of things left to do to prepare for tonight. Most was concentrating on not dying. Again, I was hard to kill, but Aaron and Masters weren’t quite so resilient. I spent a few hours in my room trying to calm myself and clear the jumbled thoughts about Watson out of my head. Aaron presented an interesting kink in our relationship, one that wouldn’t be good for Watson and me if Aaron decided to stick it out with us instead of going back to COTO.
I wasn’t sure what his plans were yet, and I didn’t think it was an appropriate time to start asking those kinds of questions. We still had to get through tonight. After tonight, I planned to talk to Watson again and smooth some things over. I didn’t like Aaron the way I cared about Watson, but there was still an obvious attraction there, and Aaron exploited it almost every time we got together. He was like an annoying mosquito I kept trying to swat away and missed every time. Eventually, that mosquito was going to bite and I was going to find myself in an awkward position. Even more awkward than the one I was in now.
The look on Watson’s face yesterday shattered me. I never meant to cause that kind of pain. He wasn’t the kind of man you toyed with and even though it was unintentional, I had played with his emotions. Sometime between breakfast and the foray back into my quarters, the shattered door had been fixed. I wasn’t sure if my father hired little elves or something, but there was no sign of Watson’s rage fueled destruction. All the wood splinters had been swept away, the doorjamb had been fixed and repainted, and the door worked with no sign of what happened yesterday. My privacy was restored, but even though my room no longer showed signs of Watson’s jealous rage, the ache in my heart didn’t dissipate. He was a man of few words and even though he’d made a declaration of friendship, there was something deeper there and we both knew it, even if we both refused to explore it right now.
I took an early dinner back to my room and ate in the silence of it, my nerves still stretched taut and thin. I had less than an hour to go before I needed to meet everyone over in the western corridor. I hadn’t spoken to Watson again, but I assumed he would have contacted me if he hadn’t been able to get hold of Lila.
I did believe him when he said he was over her, but sometimes matters of the heart were a little bit more complicated than just voicing that you were through with someone. I had a feeling tonight would test the mettle of all of us. I choked down the rest of the meatloaf from the cafeteria, washed it down with a glass of water, and got up to brush my teeth. When you were about to go into battle, clean teeth and underwear were imperative.
I stepped out of the restroom and shrieked in alarm at the person standing in the kitchen.
“Mom?” The woman stood with her back to me, but there was no doubt it was my mother. “What are you doing here?”
She turned to me and smiled sadly. “I wanted to see how you were doing.” She looked…different. I’d rarely seen her in anything other than skirts, dresses, or long, flowing pants. Today, she was decked out in the same suit I’d rebelled against wearing. It molded to her petite figure and gave her a decidedly sinister look. Her jet black hair was twisted around her head in an elaborate braid and pinned close to her head.
I stared at her for a moment. “From the way you’re dressed, it seems like you already know how I’m doing.”
She glided toward me and enveloped me in a hug. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
I pushed against her and held her by the shoulders as I watched her face. “For
what?”
My mother brushed my hair back away from my face. “For what you’re about to go through.”
“Mom?”
She stepped away, opened my fridge, and took out two beers. She twisted off the tops and handed one to me. “Mom?” I asked again.
She shook her head. “It’s not for me to say, Penelope.”
“What good is time travel if you can’t tell me what the hell to expect next?” My voice was rising, but I couldn’t help it.
“You’ll learn in time. You cannot step in to alter things without taking a terrible risk of altering future things. Eventually, you will learn the subtle nuances, but for now, you must still train and learn. Your time to travel will come soon.” She gave me a knowing look. “Although, I suspect you’ve already done some traveling.”
I flushed and took a sip of beer. My mom patted my hand.
“It’s okay. You’re back now and seem to be fine.”
“Why are you here?” I was happy to see her, but her presence brought up a lot of unanswered questions. “Does Holmes know you’re here?”
Her eyes narrowed. “That bastard knows everything, so I don’t think my presence has gone unnoticed.”
Nice to see Mom and Dad were still on awesome terms. “I don’t have much time left before I have to leave.” I checked the clock over on the wall. Forty-five minutes before something terrible happened—at least, according to my mom.
She reached over and grabbed my wrist. “Watch,” she commanded.
I watched as my mother pressed a few buttons and set the time on my DAR. She shook her head. “They’ve been remiss in your training. It’s dangerous to give such a tool to someone who doesn’t know how to use it.”
“Apparently, I don’t need it.”
My mother’s hands stilled over the DAR and she glanced up at me. “He told you that, did he?”
I nodded and watched as my mother’s face shut down.
“Penelope, you must know that for every time you use your abilities, you become a little less human.”
My eyebrows flew together. “What does that mean?” Of course no one had said anything like that to me. “Does it alter my DNA even further?”
She shook her head. “Power goes to even the steadiest person’s head. When you find what you can do with the aid of the serum, you learn to rely on it instead of your instinct.” She paused. “And your humanity.”
“Soooo, this is some metaphorical lesson I’m supposed to learn?” I hated when my mother spoke in riddles.
She laughed softly. “Sort of, I guess. I’m just telling you to beware and always know your limitations. Yes, the serum has given you immortality, and yes, it has also given you some superhuman abilities, but it also takes away part of what makes you…you. And that is what I want you to be aware of.” She looked around my quarters. “It seems like you’ve already made your mark on your father and Watson, but I remember when you were just a sweet, curious, brilliant child. And then I remember when you became a cautious, brilliant adult. I want you to remain you, daughter. I left here for a reason. I was losing myself. I would hate for it to happen to you.”
Tears pricked the back of my eyes. “I have some sweet ass ninja moves now, Mom.”
She snorted in amusement. “I bet you do. One day, I’ll show you mine.” She took my hand. “Take everything you learn here as a lesson. Do great things. Don’t allow your father to push you into things that make you question your ethics or humanity. There is no limit for him. He will push and manipulate to get to the end goal. I want better for you than that.”
I nodded. “Now, will you tell me why you’re really here?”
My mom tossed back the rest of her beer and set the bottle on the counter. “This sounds like a movie line, but, Penelope, you are in grave danger.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” I murmured. “When have I not been since I arrived here?”
My mother narrowed her gaze at that comment, but when she didn’t acknowledge it, I guess she decided to let it slide. “I can’t tell you much, but over the next few hours, you will need to keep your wits about you and notice everything. Everything, daughter,” she said in earnest. “The smallest thing you think doesn’t matter might be what keeps you alive.”
“Super cryptic, Mom. You can’t give me specifics?”
“I wish I could.” She rubbed her mouth and looked at me with concern and sadness.
“Right,” I said. “Space time continuum woo-woo stuff. Got it.”
“Don’t be so impertinent.”
I grinned. “Now there’s the mom I know and love.” I pointed to her outfit. “You planning on sticking around? That’s not exactly casual wear.”
She waggled her eyebrows. “We’ll see. I love you, child. I will see you soon.” With a slight wave, my mother disappeared from my room. Without the use of a DAR, I noticed. Apparently, my mom had some sweet ass ninja moves, too.
Chapter 29
Fifteen minutes to go. I jumped around in my apartment like I was Rocky about to go into the ring. I shook my hands out, stretched my neck, and tried not to freak out like a teenager in a horror flick. It was about to be do or die time. I finished up my beer, unsure if drinking was a wise idea before something like this, then immediately decided since my mom told me to do it, it was totally okay.
I pulled on a pair of jeggings and a long, black tunic shirt. The better to hide the blood. Over my jeggings, I pulled on the pair of combat boots I was issued. I didn’t want to be in sandals, especially if things went awry. According to my mother, there was going to be some serious crap hitting the fan soon. I hated all the cryptic statements going on. Some direction would be awesome. Knowing even a hint of what was about to happen could save my life, but if my mother could have told me, she would have.
I pulled my hair up in the same old bun I’d been wearing for weeks now, pushed my DAR into my pocket, adjusted the shirt over it so it wouldn’t be noticed, and stepped out of my room. I wasn’t sure if I would need it. I wasn’t even sure I should use it even if I did need it, but better safe than sorry. I walked alone in the corridors, curious about the fact that no one else was around. I assumed Holmes had given them some message about what was going down, or just issued a shelter in place order. If Lila walked these halls instead of teleporting in, it would make her suspicious. I frowned. My father was smarter than that, so I hoped he had this under control. For the most part, he planned to stay out of the entire issue, only providing support in case something went seriously wrong. This was Watson’s issue, or so I’d gathered from the distaste in my father’s voice every time he spoke about her, and he’d left it for Watson to clear up.
I decided not to get mad at the fact that I just so happened to be the pawn in this game and my father didn’t appear to be too concerned about it. I made it to the western corridor. Watson, Aaron, and Masters stood in an uneasy truce. Masters looked the most uneasy, but I wasn’t sure if it was because of what was to come or because Aaron and Watson wore mutually mutinous stares directed at each other.
I wanted to punch them both in their pretty noses.
“Hey,” I said as I walked up.
“Hey,” Masters mumbled as he came over by my side. “This shit is crazy,” he murmured. “Those two are about to kill each other.”
“I’m right here,” Watson said, anger etched in his tone.
“I know,” Masters said easily.
Aaron’s jaw tightened, but he remained silent. I sighed and looked at the both of them.
“Tonight is not the time to let petty issues stand in between us and our mission. Drop the anger, at least for the next few hours. I am no one’s property.” I glanced back and forth between them. “I am not a bone to be fought over. If someone goes in there angry, this could all fall apart, and I, for one, would like to get out of here alive.”
Aaron, Captain of the Obvious, spoke then. “You’re immortal.”
“If someone chopped off my head, that might change real quick,” I snapped.
Aaron’s jaw tightened for a moment, but he exhaled and nodded. “Fine. Let’s do this.”
“Jesus,” Masters muttered. “It’s about damned time.”
Watson opened the door to the lab and we walked in. Like all the other labs I’d seen, this one was just as sterile, but this one possessed something the others hadn’t. Hospital beds. Dozens of them. I swallowed hard as the ramifications of what that meant flooded over me. Human testing. I didn’t think this was an infirmary. I’d already been there and the equipment was much different. I stepped farther in and looked around. Over on the far side of the lab, behind a glass window, were dozens of cages. Animal cages. I let out a deep breath. I would worry about this later. I had to worry about this later. Right now, there were things on the agenda far more important than the freaky things my father was doing right under our noses.
Masters whistled when he walked in. “COTO has nothing on this. Absolutely nothing.”
Even Aaron looked impressed. His eyebrows rose as he stepped in a circle, examining everything. I swallowed hard. In just a little while, I’d be strapped to one of those beds completely helpless.
“Penelope?” Watson asked. “Are you okay?”
I gave him a shaky nod and clasped my hands together to get them to stop trembling. He studied my expression for a moment, concerned, and finally walked over to me. Watson gripped me by the arms and leaned in. “This will all be over in a little while.”
I looked into his eyes. “My mother said something is going to go horribly wrong.”
His gaze narrowed. “She was here?”
I nodded, but didn’t offer up that she was probably still here.
“Did she give you any details?”
I chuckled. “Do you think she did?”
He sighed. “No. Of course not. Going on the assumption she knows something we don’t, we will need to be extra careful.” He released me and turned to the other two after consulting his watch.
