Steel Lily (The Periodic Series)

by Megan Curd

  I pushed around Jaxon and wiggled in between them. I extended my hands in both directions and pushed, but they barely moved. “Okay, enough.” I huffed as I grabbed Jaxon’s hand and pulled him toward the door. “We’re leaving now. I will be back soon, Xander, Legs.”

  I hoped I was making it clear that Jaxon was not invited to the next little pow-wow, but he only seemed to listen to the information that pleased him. Anything else rolled off him like oil on water.

  He took my hand and started pulling me toward the door, but Legs called out.

  “Before you go, Avery, can I have a word?”

  Jaxon looked as if he’d swallowed a lemon.

  His eyes found Xander’s, who gestured to the door. “A little privacy for the two of them, then?”

  “There is no such thing as privacy in this Academy,” Jaxon said.

  Legs chuckled darkly. “Privacy isn’t something I’m used to, anyway. I’m more interested in having a moment with Avery that doesn’t involve you.”

  My insides squirmed uncomfortably. Xander went to Jaxon’s side and shepherded him out of the room. With a backward glance to me, Xander simply said, “Five minutes.”

  After the door had opened and closed behind them, Legs put his human hand on my shoulder. “I never answered your questions the last time we talked. You’re probably wondering how I knew where you were.”

  “There are a lot of things I’m wondering about, but that’s one of them, yes.”

  He smiled. Unlike Jaxon, there was no bitterness anywhere in his features.

  “Well, as you’ve seen, Riggs has a following behind him. He wasn’t hard to track down. I assumed the giant buggy that trashed downtown was a contraption of his.”

  “Jaxon made it, actually.” I felt my face grow hot.

  “Either way, it was related to Riggs.” He let his hand drop from my shoulder. “You’re hard to keep up with, Pike, but the Polatzi are just as clever. They never wanted me in their ranks. You were who they wanted, and I was the one they needed to get rid of. Two birds with one stone—get rid of me, find you. They didn’t even give me proper training. They didn’t think I’d live. I’m glad I found you before I croaked.”

  There was comfort in his presence; he was a small sliver of home. I leaned in for a hug, glad he was here even if the situation wasn’t great.

  “Five minutes are more than up.”

  I turned to see Jaxon cross the room to us. Xander followed behind him in silence and watched from the opposite side as he stood beside me and intertwined his fingers with mine.

  While Legs felt like home in the sense of a brother, Jaxon set me on fire in a completely different way. Could they tell? I hoped not. Jaxon didn’t need any more encouragement than his own reflection seemed to give him.

  As we walked to the door, Jaxon called back, “Xander, I’ll see you soon.”

  “Of course,” he said, somewhat amused. As we entered the dark hallway, he gave one last comment. “Be a gentleman tonight, Jax.”

  I stole a glance at him.

  “Always am—in my own way.”

  Xander laughed. “Avery, Jax is hell to chase and heaven to catch. Just keep that in mind.”

  With that, Jaxon shut the door behind him, and we were plunged into near complete darkness. He huffed, apparently annoyed. “Well, that was certainly fun walking in to see Gimpalicious putting moves on you.”

  “Gimpalicious? That’s Legs you’re talking about. He’s my friend. And what was that back there? Was that you marking your territory? Because if it was, you need to cut that crap out. I’m unclaimed.”

  “Unclaimed? I think I made my position clear in Xander’s office.”

  His indignation irritated me. “You don’t get to make that decision. A relationship has two people in it.”

  As we walked in silence, his grip on my hand lessened. He might have let go if I tried to wriggle loose, but I enjoyed the feel of his calloused palms on my hands. I wondered how it would feel for those palms to be other places, but immediately chastised myself for going there.

  I was a glutton for punishment.

  While my footsteps echoed across the quiet central building, his seemed to be silent. I could have thought him a specter if I hadn’t been holding his hand. His fingers lightly traced a circle on the back of my hand, making me feel safe. We took the main stairs two at a time, and once we’d reached the railing, he gestured over it, as he had when I’d first arrived.

  “Look.” His command was gentle.

  The sight took my breath away. The marble that had looked amazing in the daylight was now mesmerizing. Constellations illuminated the floor, casting a gleam I had mistaken for moonlight.

  “This is gorgeous!”

  “I wanted you to see my favorite piece of work,” he said quietly.

  “You did this?”

  “It’s a trick of the light coupled with the concoctions my father passed down to me. The sunlight charges the liquid in the constellations, and at night when there’s sufficient moonlight, they glow. The starry portions—the brighter dots—are actually gold that we plated with the liquid and laid into the marble.” His gaze was distant. “It’s a shame no one really gets to see it. That’s why I wanted to show it to you.”

  “It’s beyond beautiful. It looks real, save for the lines that connect the dots.”

  “Yeah, I always hate trying to make out the constellations in the sky, so I decided to make these easier to decipher.” He took my hand and led me to the elevator. In the luminescence cast by his art and the moon, his face seemed younger. He was enjoying himself, letting down his walls.

  It made me want to let down my own walls, to build something with him.

  He tugged my hand. “Come on, there’s more I want to show you.” He was allowing me to see him for who he was—a young man who still had hope buried deep within.

  “Why do I have a feeling we aren’t supposed to be doing this?”

  His smile broadened. “Technically, we’re not allowed…but I am Atticus Riggs’s son, and that has its perks.”

  “Such as?”

  “Such as having a ‘round the clock key card. My laboratory is outside of academy limits. I need to be able to access it when the feeling strikes.”

  My insides gave a little squirm. “You’re going to show me where you work?”

  “Well, I thought since you shared with me, I’d share with you.” His eyes searched mine. “If you’d rather not, it’s okay. We can go back to the dorms.”

  “No, I’d like to see it!”

  He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close. His lips grazed against my ear.

  I sucked in a breath, shocked at the turn of events. When he exhaled, I closed my eyes.

  “Well then, maybe you should let me know if Gimpalicious is your boyfriend. I wouldn’t want to intrude on someone else’s territory.”

  My words came out in a hitch. “I told you, I’m unclaimed.”

  “And what would it take for you to become claimed?”

  “By whom?”

  He ran the back of his hand against my cheek and searched my eyes. “By someone undeserving.”

  “Then it would take a lot.”

  “Time?”

  “Time…and trust.”

  His fingers intertwined with mine.

  I felt on fire, felt alive, felt I needed so much more of this. So much more of him.

  “I’ll do everything in my power to steal your time and earn your trust.”

  “Stealing isn’t honorable, Mr. Pierce,” I whispered.

  His smile was captivating. “But steal I must. And I will. And you will love it.”

  “Oh I will, will I?”

  He untangled his fingers from mine and traced a line up the small of my back. “Don’t admit it though.”

  “I would never.”

  “Good. Because that wouldn’t be fun.”

  “Or maybe I won’t love it.”

  “I haven’t met a woman yet who hasn’t loved me
when I put on the charm.”

  “There’s always a first.”

  He cocked his head, reminding me for once of the young man he was. It reminded me that maybe he was hopeful and insecure somewhere within that heart of his. “Please don’t let it be you.”

  I closed my eyes, refusing to give him anything. “Weren’t we going on a non-date?”

  “Not anymore.”

  My eyes flew open. “No? Why?”

  “Because I need to earn your trust first.”

  I laughed. “And how do you plan on doing that at midnight?”

  His eyes were serious. “I’m taking you to be with your parents, of course.”

  JAXON WEAVED THROUGH hallways with ease, and after a few minutes, he intertwined his fingers with mine.

  I pulled away.

  He stopped, a sardonic smile visible even in the dim light. “What, I tell you I’m taking you to your parents, and I can’t even hold your hand? The hero can’t catch a break.”

  The thought of him standing in my parents’ doorway this afternoon flooded my mind. “I wasn’t aware you were a hero.”

  “Well, my cape is being washed, but I could have whipped up a mask for you if that would have given a better image.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh, but I still didn’t hold his hand…not that I didn’t want to. “I wouldn’t be opposed to a mask if that meant you’d quit blathering on about your supposed good looks.”

  “Ouch, Pike. You have a cruel sense of humor.”

  “The better to keep you in line with, my dear.”

  We carried on in silence, but I noticed he wore a smile, all the same. We moved through the corridors until our footsteps echoed off the linoleum tile flooring I remembered from this afternoon.

  My parents are down the hall.

  “Your brother…” I started.

  “Is a crispy critter of the cruelest kind. I know. Aren’t you impressed with my amazing alliteration at this atrocious hour?”

  “Your wit knows no bounds.”

  “Finally. Someone who appreciates what I bring to the table.”

  A shadow moved behind him, and a cold voice froze the air around us.

  “You don’t bring nearly enough for what you take from it.”

  Jaxon stiffened at the sound of Riggs’s voice. “I tend to take only enough to survive. And as it seems, you make sure that is well below the livable line most of the time.”

  I sucked in a shocked breath at his words and shrunk behind him.

  “It would seem your girlfriend doesn’t think you’re respecting your father.” Riggs flicked on the main switch and bathed us all in blinding light. He stood in a robe with his initials embroidered onto the left breast pocket. “I tend to agree.”

  “I highly doubt anyone who knows what you’ve done to me would agree that you deserve any kind of respect.”

  “And so you blatantly try to smuggle the girl down to see her parents. I thought we’d discussed the girl prior to you going to retrieve her. I remember you saying there wouldn’t be an issue on a personal level.”

  They were talking about me as though I wasn’t there. Part of me wanted to step in and the other part wanted to sneak backward out of the hall before Riggs could get his claws into me as he had Alice.

  “There isn’t an issue,” Jaxon said, extending his arm out behind him to grab mine. “I just imagined she might want to get to know where she would be living if she didn’t do what you asked of her.”

  Ice filled my veins. Where I’d be living? Either Jaxon was feinting, or he was telling me Riggs’s plan for me. But what if he wasn’t merely dodging the issue? What if Jaxon didn’t care one bit? I was surprised by the amount of betrayal I felt.

  Riggs stared past Jaxon at me. “Have you nothing to say? No input from the girl who seems to have wooed my son? Because you obviously know he’s my son…the prince of Chromelius Academy, as he so thinks. Would that make you his princess?”

  His words left me feeling dirty, and I stood closer to Jaxon—a move of solidarity, I hoped. “I want nothing to do with the evil things going on in this place, and neither does Jaxon.”

  Riggs laughed. “And you think I’m the evil mastermind?”

  Silence lingered between us. I didn’t know what to say. This time I let Jaxon take my hand.

  “She just wants to see her parents,” he said firmly, then moved to push around Riggs. “It might sound like a novel idea, but Avery’s actually love her.”

  The comment seemed to knock Riggs off his usual swagger because he allowed us to pass. Jaxon swiped his access card through the door.

  “You’ll be answering for that, Jaxon,” Riggs said coldly behind us.

  “I can’t wait.” He slammed the door in Riggs’s face and leaned against it, eyes closed. His shoulders heaved as his deep breaths slowed, and I could tell he was battling to keep his composure.

  There was so much I didn’t know—didn’t understand—about him.

  “Why did you—?”

  “Don’t worry about it. Just go see your parents. I’ll pick you up in the morning.”

  With that, I was alone, leaving me alone, not knowing where his volatile brother might be lurking.

  ***

  My knocking of the door echoed through the empty hall, and I prayed Mom and Dad would hear me before Jaxon’s brother.

  “Mom? Dad?” I knocked again, this time quieter. “Open up, please.”

  Footsteps.

  My stomach flipped. I still couldn’t believe they were here.

  Dad answered the door. “Mr. Riggs, did you forget—” His face broke into a smile, then quickly became panicked. “Avery! What are you doing here?”

  “Jaxon brought me. He’s trying to atone for being a butthead.”

  He laughed. “Avery, all men are buttheads. The sooner you learn that, the better off you are. And you’re too young to date anyway. No dating until you’re twenty five.”

  “The human race may end before then.”

  “You wouldn’t have missed out on anything. I’m allowed to say that; I’m your dad.”

  Mom peeked out from the bedroom, her eyes bright with excitement. “You do know it’s past midnight, don’t you? Aren’t you supposed to discipline her for being out late too, Cole?”

  I smiled at her. “A slumber party seemed like fun.”

  “Only if you promise to tell me what’s going on with you and Jaxon,” she said, coming to sit down by Dad and I. “And don’t say there’s nothing going on. I’ve seen the way you two look at each other, and that’s not nothing.”

  “Oh, it’s not,” I conceded, “It’s a general distrust on my part and him wishing he could woo me like the other girls.”

  She leaned in and put her hand on my knee. “You know there are no other girls, right?”

  “Not right now, maybe…”

  “Not ever.”

  I raised my eyebrows, dubious of her proclamation. “How do you know that?”

  She smiled. “Let’s just say I’ve been here long enough and interacted with that boy enough to know…and there have never been any other girls, no matter what he tries to tell you.”

  “But you don’t have to be the first,” Dad said, butting in. “Remember what I said. Twenty-five is the new dating age.”

  Mom and I laughed.

  “He’s just making up for lost time,” she said. “Ignore him. Now tell me about your abilities.”

  We all talked late into the night, until the sky turned from purple, to red, and then the brilliance of the sun stole the beauty of the cool night sky.

  Mom’s red hair glowed against the new dawn, and her eyes were tired as she yawned.

  “Good Lord, we stayed up all night. Well, two of us, anyway.” She motioned to Dad, who had fallen asleep on the end of the couch, his mouth open and his arms crossed. She held her gaze on him. “He was so excited and heartbroken at the same time when you showed up earlier. He has hated himself for leaving you. We both have. You deserve a family.” />
  “I have one.”

  “A normal family.”

  “Normal is overrated. I like my family as is.”

  “Radiation filled and all?”

  “That’s like the warm, gooey center of a particularly good donut.”

  Mom laughed. “Well, I’m glad we’re comparable to a donut.”

  “A particularly good one, at that.”

  “You haven’t had an easy life. We haven’t been dealt the cards that I wish we could have given you. But because of that, you’ve overcome. You’re resilient, and that will keep you going. The chance that I might someday get to see you again—get to hug my baby—that’s kept me going. And look, it’s happened. Things don’t always come to fruition the way we think they will, but life has a funny way of working itself out if we have the patience to wait on it.”

  As I watched her in the morning light, I took in every laugh line, the way her hair didn’t all quite make it behind her ears, her heterochromatic eyes like mine. “Do you regret it?”

  “Regret what, baby girl?”

  “Coming here. Trying to keep me safe when all I managed to do was end up here with you.”

  She took my hands in hers and rubbed them, her weathered palms massaging mine and her eyes were clear as day. “Not one bit. I’d do it again and again and again. A mother’s love knows no bounds, and I would do anything to keep you safe, to know you were happy. I would lay down my life for you to live one more hour.”

  “That’s a little melodramatic, don’t you think?”

  Her face was fierce. “If you don’t know what you’d die for, you haven’t lived passionately enough.”

  In that moment I wondered what I’d die for, and knew almost instantly.

  Freedom.

  Because humankind wasn’t meant to live in a cage. Someday I would break free and fly. I would fly away from this place with my family and my friends and never look back. And we would be free.

  Or we’d die trying.

  THE FOLLOWING WEEK I began to fall into a routine—breakfast with everyone, lessons with Riggs, and Jaxon sneaking me to my parents in the evening. Never once did he try to hold my hand since the first night. I wasn’t sure if I liked that or not.

  Mom and I practiced late into the evenings, pushing both of us to exhaustion until we fell asleep on the couch. In the mornings, Jaxon would come get me before the sky turned red with the rising sun, and we would act as though we were nothing more than friends, which was true, right?