Marvin nodded enthusiastically. “No more punching!” he said. “The favor I want from you is that you cannot inflict any sort of harm on me any time you feel the desire to.”
Sophie furrowed her brow. That was an odd request. What else could Marvin do to illicit such a response …?
“Ethan.” Jared was back, his brow wrinkled and determined. “We have a problem. Peculiars foreign to our academy have entered the building and are on the way here.”
“Here?” Ethan asked, confused. “How do they know about base?”
It took a beat for Jared to respond. “Dianna is with them,” he said in a hushed voice.
Dianna?
Sophie paled. That meant Michael. Michael was here. Now.
14
Jane’s entire stomach lurched together like one part of it wanted to jump into her throat and the other wanted to descend to the tips of her toes. Cillian was Brielle’s step-brother? She had been protecting her brother all this time? Which meant the whole night at the club was a set-up. He knew exactly who and what she was, so his attraction to her wasn’t even genuine. The whole thing wasn’t genuine. He had been using her in every way. And then he got cocky and took advantage of her.
And Brielle, her friend, her close friend, knew all of this and didn’t say anything. Yes, she had healed Jane, saved her life, but she was responsible for her kidnapping. Brielle was responsible for the duration of her time with Michael. She could have told someone. But she wanted to protect Cillian.
Jane couldn’t understand that. How could you protect someone after they did something bad? It didn’t matter that he was family—he wasn’t even blood! The point was, Brielle knew this had happened to her. She made choice after choice after choice, and Jane was the person who suffered the consequences.
It didn’t make any sense to her. Maybe that was what frustrated her the most. She didn’t understand the logic behind Brielle’s choices.
Jane didn't like to cry, especially not in public, especially not in front of people. But it didn't matter. The tears fell on their own accord, and she was lifted with the solace that at least snot wasn't dropping from her nose and she wasn't racked with uncontrollable sobbing. Her feelings were mixed and conflicting, a concoction of both stabbing pain and tingling numbness. It was like her internal system had no idea how to compute, so it produced tears because that was the most logical result. Jane wasn't sad; she was everything. She was angry, frustrated, hurt, disappoint, furious, bitter, and everything in between. Sad didn't even make the top twenty-five.
Without warning, Depogare dropped her hand abruptly to go over and punch Marvin square in the jaw. It was so hard his head snapped back and she heard his teeth clatter together. She winced at the sound. That was how she felt, to be honest, toward Marvin and Brielle and Michael. She still had no idea why Michael had had her. Maybe Marvin could give her some insight to that question. Next time something like this happened, she wanted her natural instinct to kick in so she reacted the way Depogare did.
"Excuse me," a voice said, causing silence to rush throughout the base.
Immediately, Jane's entire body tensed up. She knew that voice. From the corner of her eye, she noticed the voice stopped Depogare, mid-punch, ready to knock another hit into Marvin’s face. Depogare looked up, but kept his fist locked and ready, just in case.
"I need everyone's attention, if I may." It was a smooth and low, like black velvet, and had a slight German lilt to it.
Jane swallowed and looked at Sophie. Blood drained from the red head's face, and she was as rigid as a ruler. She thought she heard Will growl, but whether or not he did, the shifter took a step in front of Sophie as a means to shield her from the intruder's view.
Michael, in all his beautiful glory. His tall, built frame was clad in an ironed polo shirt tucked into pressed, tan pants and shiny brown loafers. His copper hair was combed, every lock in place, and his pale green eyes swept the room almost as if he was looking for someone. And he was, because the moment they locked onto Sophie, they stopped and stared. Jane looked over at her friend and was surprised to see that Sophie held Michael’s gaze. She swallowed, and her hands were shoved in the pockets of her jeans because they were shaking, but Sophie’s gaze did not falter.
That, in Jane’s opinion, was true bravery.
“Ah,” Michael said, his eyes softening.
Jane frowned. Did Michael actually care about Sophie?
That didn’t make sense, either.
“I’ve found you,” he said, and it sounded like it was more to himself than to anyone else. “Finally.”
Without warning, Marvin interlocked his fingers and whacked Depogare in the stomach, causing Depogare to keel over. Marvin easily pushed his brother off of him and stood up.
“Marvin,” Will said, his voice tight, low, and dangerous. His eyes flashed hazel. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“He knew everything,” Brielle whispered. She stood on the other side of Kessler, so close the hairs on their arms touched.
Dianna emerged from the staircase as well, which made sense because there was no way Michael would ever know about base without Dianna’s guidance. As Jane stared at her, her eyes narrowed. Her resting bitch face was in full-swing: Dianna’s lips were turned down, her eyes cutting like the edge of a snowflake, her brow causing a dent in between her brows. She was pretty, like one of those marble statues, and just as cold.
Dianna’s presence nearly distracted Jane from Marvin up until Marvin stood adjacent to Michael, his hands sliding in his back pockets. Marvin’s pale blue eyes found Depogare’s—still on his butt and trying to catch his breath—and he shrugged. Jane’s mouth dropped open, and she blinked once to make sure that what she was seeing was correct.
Marvin just shrugged.
“Sorry, baby brother,” he said, no hint of remorse in his southern twang. “Don’t take it personal. Michael was willing to pay for location.”
“So you stole Jane from Michael in order to sell her back to him?” Daryl asked. Jane couldn’t even look at Daryl; she was too infuriated on his behalf to send him any sort of support or reassurance.
“Not exactly,” Marvin said.
“The only reason I took Jane was to get Sophie,” Michael explained. His eyes never left Sophie’s, however. As odd as it sounded, it was almost as though this moment was reserved for just the two of them, and Jane felt as though she shouldn’t be observing it due to the intimate tension between the two. “I could care less about Jane. I could care less about price. If Marvin provided me with information that led to acquiring Sophie, then I would pay any price.”
“And that was essentially what I got paid,” Marvin said with a grin. “Well, it looks like my job is done, right? I can go? Everything’s been wired over?”
Michael nodded, but paid him no mind. Marvin didn’t seem to care; just as he was about to ascend the staircase, Daryl stopped him.
“You will pay for this,” he promised. “You know.”
Marvin smirked. “You can certainly try,” he said, and disappeared.
Daryl stood, ready to go after him, but Will placed a firm hand on his shoulder and stopped him. Daryl clenched his jaw and Jane could swear she heard him groan out of frustration. Revenge was present in his eyes, and he did not want anyone in his way so he could carry it out.
“We have bigger fish to fry right now,” Will told him in a low breath. “We’ll get him, Depogare. We’ll get Marvin. Just not right now.”
Will was right. Jane knew this, and so did Daryl. So he looked away—at her—and nodded once, in response to Will’s words.
Ethan walked forward so he was directly in Michael’s line of sight. “Michael,” he said in his calm voice. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”
Michael nodded once. “It has.” His crisp eyes looked at base, flittered over the supplies, the students, and lingered on a few of the professors’ faces. Jane wasn’t sure, but it almost appeared as though a glint of familiarity rest
ed in his green eyes. She couldn’t be sure, but he wasn’t filled with hatred or revenge. It just looked as though he wanted Sophie, and that was it. “Everything looks like I remember it.”
“Nothing has changed much,” Ethan agreed with a nod. “Only people. In this day and age, everything is so technologically advanced that it makes teaching both easier and more difficult.”
“I can imagine.”
“Michael, why are you here?”
Jane shook her head, trying to make sense of all of this. It sounded as though Ethan knew Michael. Almost as if Michael had been taught here. If that was the case, why didn’t Ethan say anything? Why didn’t he warn Sophie of Michael or try and figure out where he was and what he was doing, come up with some modus operandi for how to get Michael based on what they knew of him during his time here?
“You know why I am here,” he said. “I’ve been searching my entire life for another physical. When you taught me of my kind, how I was the only one on earth, I knew that couldn’t be true. There had to be somebody else out there like me, who would understand and see the world as I saw it. We could belong to each other and produce children with the same power. We would never be alone again.”
“Michael, you cannot simply take someone against their freewill in order to satisfy your desire for a life partner,” Ethan told him. His tone mirrored that of a parent lecturing his child.
Why wasn’t Ethan more upset with him? Why was he being so nice?
“She’s a physical,” Michael said, anger sparking in his eyes. “She belongs to me. It’s not natural for her to be with anyone else.”
“It’s not natural to force someone to be with you,” Will snarled before he could stop himself. Jane could feel the tension from her place in the impromptu medical chair.
“It’s not natural to house a rapist,” Daryl put in.
Michael’s eyes found Brielle. “Ah,” he said. “I see you’ve told them. That would diminish our bargain, you see.”
Brielle clenched her jaw but said nothing. Kessler pressed his lips together and leaned in a fraction, giving her the physical comfort he otherwise couldn’t.
Michael nodded. “So be it,” he said. His eyes turned to Jane, and his body relaxed. It reminded her of how he looked at Sophie—soft and calm, like he saw her as a person he liked—which didn’t make any sense because he didn’t even know her. “I apologize, Miss Cabot, for what happened to you. I can assure you that after I found out, I was ready to kill Cillian. However, Miss Rivera stepped in and offered me something I couldn’t refuse.”
“Why did you take me?” Jane asked before she could think to stop herself. So many questions raced through her mind without any semblance of answers, but maybe he could resolve this. “Why did you have Dianna kill me?”
“What?” Michael asked, snapping his eyes to Dianna. Then, he seemed to remember himself and he looked back at Jane. “I took you to get Sophie. She is the reason for everything. In terms of Dianna’s attack, I did not realize she had killed you.”
“She did,” Brielle said, taking a step forward. “I had to heal her myself.”
“Yes, well, I apologize again, Miss Cabot,” he told her, and Jane was surprised at the sincerity in it. “Believe me when I can, I promise restitution. To answer your question, I knew that if I had you, I could exchange you for Sophie. You were a means to an end. You were never intended to be killed or raped.”
“But I was,” Jane said. “And maybe you didn’t actually commit the deed, but you’re still partly responsible for them. I don’t care if you think you had a good reason or not. You’re a monster.”
Michael looked taken aback by Jane’s words, and it looked as though he paled at the truth of them.
“I have something to say.” Sophie took a step forward, and everyone fixed their eyes on her. Jane would hate that much attention, and more than likely would squirm underneath it. Sophie stood erect and rigid. She looked scared and uncomfortable, but it did not matter. She would say what she needed to say, regardless of how she felt on the inside. “I understand what you’re going through.” She paused, swallowed, trying to moisten her throat. “I’ve been alone the majority of my life until Ethan and Will found me. I knew there was something up with me; I just didn’t know what that was until this academy. But now I have friends. I have a place I can belong. This is my home, Michael.”
“Sophie, you and I—”
“I don’t want to be with you,” Sophie said. “Regardless of whether we’re both physicals or not, I can choose who I want to be with. I barely know you. And what I do know of you, I don’t like. You’ve hurt my friends, blackmailed them, kidnapped me … I don’t understand why. Why couldn’t you just talk to me, like a-a human?”
Jane watched as Michael’s eyes darkened. “We are not human, Sophie,” he said. “We are peculiars. Our laws differ.”
“They don’t have to.”
“You’re a fool,” Michael spat. “You think you attend an academy like this and you know the real world. I’d wager you’ve never left the safety of California. You have no idea what it’s like in the real world. And that’s a shame really, because the world is a dangerous, captivating place. I wanted nothing more than to share that with you, but I see you’ve made your choice.”
“I have.”
“So be it.” He looked at Dianna and gave her a nod. She returned it and transformed into a cougar, standing in front of Michael in order to protect him from any attack. Jane instinctively tensed, remembering her attack. The scars on her back screamed in pain even now, the muscles permanently disfigured.
Michael turned and grabbed onto the side of a supply column. With ease, he pushed it so it knocked over the one next to it, and soon, all of them were falling over like dominoes. Everyone took cover rather than attempt to stop the two from escaping, and Jane was no exception. Daryl grabbed her from the chair and pulled her to the floor, covering her body with his. By the time the dust settled, Michael and Dianna were gone.
15
When the destruction ceased, Sophie immediately sprang up and started picking up supply columns. She struggled a bit more because she still had to build and mold her strength, but she was able to line everything back the way it was.
She needed to focus on something, anyway. Her heart was racing in a circle, like it was on a speed track and couldn’t slow down. Michael had come for her. Not only that, everything that had happened to Jane was because he wanted her. He thought he had a right to her because they were the same kind. Her hands shook as she started to pile the supplies back on the shelves.
She was scared. She was scared shitless.
Her eyes watered. She tried to blink them back, but there was too many of them and they started to fall.
“Hey.”
Will’s voice was low and uncharacteristically tender. He grabbed her forearm and spun her around before wrapping his arms around her frame and crushing her to his chest. The second her head his chest, her tears sprung out like a broken sprinkler, but no sounds came out of her mouth. Her shoulders jumped up and down, racking uncontrollably, and she was so grateful Will’s grip on her was tight because she felt like nothing could get to her. Not when she was wrapped up in Will’s strong embrace.
Will placed his chin on the top of her head and let her cry. No one could see the two of them. They were in the back, and the consensus was to give Sophie her space, which both of them were grateful for. This way, Will could touch her and hold her and look at her without worrying about who would see and how someone might interpret their relationship based on their behavior toward each other. Sophie could cry without worrying about being judged or seen or deemed weak.
She hated this. She hated that someone was so selfish they would kidnap and blackmail her friends just to get to her.
Some girls might have thought Michael was romantic. He was good looking, polished, and exceedingly wealthy, who just wanted to find someone with similar attributes so he could settle down and start a family. Sophie mi
ght have been alone fifteen years of her life, but Michael had been alone for centuries. It seemed as though he had attended AckPec when he was her age, which meant this school had been around longer than Sophie imagined.
What she didn’t appreciate, however, was Ethan’s silence about the whole thing. Why not tell her about Michael and his plight in order to better prepare her? Why not warn her that some former student and physical was a little too interested in seeking like-minded peculiars in order to start some sort of pure family together and would stop at nothing until he got his way? Certainly there were signs that revealed his true character. There had to be.
“I know you may not believe me,” Will murmured, “but it’s going to be okay.”
The sound of his voice soothed her, and soon, she was able to breathe again without being racked by silent sobs. She continued to clutch his bare skin with her hands—hopefully her nails hadn’t left any marks, but she couldn’t be sure—keeping him close, keeping him with her so he wouldn’t leave, for whatever reason.
Not that he would.
Will seemed intent on staying with Sophie for as long as she needed him. For that, she was grateful.
Soon, her crying stopped completely, and she simply continued to hold Will, keeping her head placed firmly on his shoulder. Her sapphire eyes, red rimmed from crying, stared at the silver wall in front of her without looking at anything in particular. She had no thoughts, which was a nice change. Everything was wrapped in a warm, comfortable silence like a fuzzy blanket on a cold night, and she didn’t want the feeing to end.
“I do believe you.”
The words were strangled and tight, and came a good deal after Will’s sentence, but they came out on their own accord. Sophie couldn’t stop them if she tried.
Will picked his head up to look at her, and she did the same so their eyes were now locked. The corner of her lip twitched up—it was the closest thing to a smile she could offer Will at the moment—and he gave her a grin in return.
Stranger Series Box Set Page 60
