Jamb (The Cornerstone Series)

by Misty Provencher

  Deeta catches Milo looking at me, and me looking away, and when she finally corners my gaze, I think I can actually read some of her highlights too. Her vibe says: please, please stay away from him. It spills all around her like exhaust fumes and I just want to wrap my arms around her and reassure her until it’s embarrassing that she sooo does not need to worry about anything like that from me. While I can understand that Milo is clearly the best catch in the Alo line-up tonight, with all his muscles and proud posture and surfer-boy looks, Deeta doesn’t have to worry one iota that I might ever pull a Zaneen. Milo’s not only Alo—he’s also completely not Garrett.

  I take glasses of water with lime juice ice cubes, tea, and water with cucumber slices floating in them, into the living room. Milo takes the water with cucumber slices.

  “Who thought this would be good, huh?” he says as he sips it. I feel Deeta’s stare boring into the back of my head. But Milo keeps talking instead of just letting me get away. “You ever miss having a Coke?”

  “Not really,” I say.

  He laughs, looking into his glass. “I do.”

  Standing beside him, I get that feeling again, like I’m being pulled in. It’s got to be that he’s Alo and I’m wired to protect him, but why would it be kicking in now? Instinctively, my eyes quickly comb the room for a threat and I see only two. One is Deeta, his stalker who is currently trying to resurrect the shaky ends of her smile, and Garrett, who is leaning on the wide doorframe to the kitchen and drilling Milo with a stare over the top of a glass of lime water. Milo will have to go those two on his own. I pull away just as Sasu drags open the sliding glass door. She is panting as she jumps inside.

  “Alo, out!” she commands. Everyone who wasn’t looking at her, looks up at her then and she growls, with a swing of her finger toward the courtyard, “Out now!”

  Carducci is immediately by her side, his hands on her forearms and his broad shoulders curving down over her like a hulking umbrella. She rises up on tiptoe and whispers in his ear. The concern flashes across his face and then he turns back to the two Alo on the couch, as well as Deeta and Milo.

  “Okay, there’s a big back up on Memories,” he says, his voice all lilty and overly-calm. Sasu is rubbing her arms like a ghost just walked across her grave. “The Alo have been asked to take care of it.”

  “A bigger back up than there has been?” Milo asks. He gets a collective scowl from Garrett, Zane, and Robin that he ignores.

  “No, not bigger,” Carducci says, running a hand over his face. “But the Addo’s asking for the Alo to get on the pile up and take care of it. Party’s over for tonight.”

  “We have been trying to take care of it,” Deeta says.

  “Well, I guess he wants you to try harder. Time to go.”

  Harmon gets off the couch first.

  “You know, you guys aren’t the bosses of us,” he says as he slinks toward the door. Bruce springs up behind him.

  “This party stunk anyway,” he says. Deeta hovers by the door, half in and half out, waiting for Milo to cross the room. He takes his time, leaving his glass in the sink. She leans back in and whispers to Carducci, “Hey, what’s really going on?”

  But Carducci just rolls his eyes. “Goodnight, Deeta.”

  “Fine,” she says, as Milo finally steps out into the courtyard with her. Carducci gives them a wave, locking the door behind them and snapping the blinds shut.

  “So?” Robin says from the kitchen counter. “Where’s the fire, Sas?”

  “Here. Tomorrow. Sean and Teagan’s wedding. We’re about to be ambushed,” she says.

  CHAPTER

  My stomach doesn’t just drop into my shoes. It does that, but then it slams into my soles and bungees back up. My nerves all stand up like arm hair in a cold room, except that this arm hair is ready to fight.

  And everyone else in the room is the same. The temperature has gone from tense to volatile.

  “I was up on the 3rd Cura’s floor, talking with my uncle’s brother-in-law’s…” Sasu begins, but Robin interrupts.

  “Cut to it, Sas.”

  “Fine. I overheard some people talking near the elevator on the way back. I was standing behind a potted plant and they didn’t notice me right away. They were talking about Sean and Teagan’s wedding ceremony, how no one would see it coming. It was really creepy.”

  “That could be about anything,” Garrett says.

  “And no one saw what was coming with Sean,” Zane says. “He was Simple, then he got the Addoship, and now he’s got a surprise kid. It’s like one-stop-shopping in the shocker department with him.”

  “Let me finish,” Sasu’s voice drops like it’s five feet under ground and Zane shuts his trap. “They said the Mastermind would be proud, that he planned it perfectly.”

  I am part of the sudden, collective silence that strangles the air out of the room.

  “Which Cura were the members from?” Zane asks. “If you were on the third floor, that’s Heema’s Cura.”

  “They weren’t from there,” Sasu says. “One of the Contego from that floor asked them what they were doing there and they said they were lost. I didn’t want them to see me, but they got on the elevator with me and a bunch of other people and they didn’t get off at any of the floors. They followed me down to the courtyard.”

  Carducci is already making steps toward the door, probably to go splatter the first stranger he sees, but Garrett catches him by the arm.

  “Don’t,” he says. “All that will do is let them know we’re looking and send them into hiding. But we need to get the rest of our Cura in on this and we need to let our Contego know what’s happening.”

  “Did they say when it was going to happen?” I ask.

  “They were talking about Sean and Teagan’s ceremony, so anytime between now and then, I guess.”

  “Okay, let’s go screw with their plans,” Garrett says.

  ***

  Everyone goes in different directions. Zane and Robin go to Mr. Middleditch, Carducci goes to Freddie, Sasu goes to Mrs. Neho and Larson. Garrett and I rap on Mrs. Reese’s door.

  “Alright,” Mrs. Reese says once she’s heard the little that we know. Brandon rises off the couch, but when he moves to the table where we’re gathered, he does it with a strong limp. He leans on the back of a kitchen chair across from Garrett. Brandon’s shoulders are just buckled, as if the black cloud he carries around with him is made of bricks.

  “So, we don’t know which Cura it’s coming from,” he says. “And we don’t know when it’s going to happen or how. All we know is that we’re living with a bunch of traitors.”

  Mrs. Reese glances at Brandon, but she doesn’t correct him. Instead, her eyes wander.

  “There is a slight possibility that it could be nothing more than a rumor or a bad joke,” she says. “We don’t know if Sasu overheard an actual plot or if it was just people playing games with her. But, of course, we’ll prepare for the possibility that it’s not.”

  “What are you going to tell Sean?” Brandon says.

  “I’m not going to tell him anything,” Mrs. Reese says.

  “Don’t you think that’s a little risky?” Garrett pushes away from the chair he’s leaning on. “He should know what’s coming at him.”

  “He and Teagan already know the exits from the courtyard in case they need to escape. We’ve rehearsed them. There’s nothing else they need to know and I don’t want to start another fight about withholding information the night before they are married.”

  “Well no, it won’t make a difference,” Garrett agrees. “But we could isolate them.”

  “You’re assuming it’s going to happen during the ceremony. What if it doesn’t? We can’t keep them isolated from their own ceremony. Whoever the traitors are, that would tip them off.” Mrs. Reese taps her fingernails on the table. “The Addo only has to be visible for part of the service. We could keep them close together at least.”

  “True,” Garrett says.

  “W
hat about having an escape like a magic act?” I say. “Maybe we could work it into the wedding ceremony?”

  Mrs. Reese’s gaze fixes on me. “The mandare is the actual ceremony, when the couple presents themselves to the Addo; he asks if they accept the bond to one another and the Binding rope is removed with a blessing. Then the guests sing another wedding blessing and the couple invites the crowd to celebrate with them. The celebration is similar to the Simple’s wedding receptions. What kind of magic trick are you thinking of, Nalena?”

  “Just like a magician makes an elephant disappear in a crowd. Smoke and mirrors. Kind of like the hidden door in the gym that led down to Nok and the Addo’s apartment. For the mandare, would it be normal to set up a canopy for the Addo to do his blessing beneath?”

  “Sure. That’s typical.”

  “If we could decorate the courtyard with similar canopies, that would give us cover, if we need it. We could do something like a cup game, using diversions.”

  “We will have the main canopy against the door that leads back to the Addo’s safe room, but we always have other access available if we need them. I like the idea of a shell game,” Mrs. Reese says. She sags back in her chair, absently rubbing her forehead with her fingertips. She looks a million miles away and Garrett touches her shoulder.

  “You okay, Mom?” he says.

  “Yes, yes, of course,” she says. “It’s just that this is my first child’s wedding, and I would’ve liked it to actually be one.”

  ***

  “No one is going to come looking for me tonight,” Garrett says when we return to my suite. He trails in behind me and Zaneen.

  “No one’s looking for anyone tonight,” she grumbles, throwing up an exhausted arm as she says goodnight. She trudges off to her room.

  We’ve spent the night trying to transform the courtyard into a romantic plane of benches and matching canopies, with strategically placed full-length mirrors that we’d removed from the rooms. Several times, I became disoriented by the similar surroundings and just as many times, I surprised myself with my own reflection across the courtyard, so I don’t think it’s too crazy to think we might be able to create enough confusion in an attack to get the Addos to safety.

  I just don’t know how easy it will be to get Sean to safety with his wife and baby attached to his wrist or if Grace suddenly becomes a siren of infant screams.

  Garrett collapses on the couch and pulls me down with him. I fall against his chest as he drops his head back, as if he’s staring at the ceiling, except that he’s not. His eyes are closed.

  “We need to get some sleep,” he mumbles. “Tomorrow could be…anything.”

  “I hope it’s nothing. I hope Sasu misheard everything.”

  “Me too.”

  “But I don’t think she did.”

  “We’ll be ready if she didn’t,” he says. “I hope.”

  “Who’s guarding tonight?”

  “Freddie and Mrs. Neho. And get this: because we’ve all got to be ready for tomorrow, Sean and Teagan and my mom are barricaded in with the Addo in an alternate room.”

  “Oh no,” I giggle. “It must not be bad luck to see each other before the wedding, huh?”

  “They’ve had to sleep together and they have a baby,” Garrett says, his voice deepening to a sexy beat in my stomach. “I don’t think there’s anything they haven’t seen by now. I’ve never understood why the Simple keep the bride and groom apart for one night. We always keep them together.”

  I shiver at the thought of what that means and Garrett runs a warm hand down my back.

  “Does that make you nervous?” he asks.

  “Which part?” I say.

  “The wedding night?” Garrett lifts my hand in his.

  “Well, the first night that we…you know. I’m sure it happens before the wedding night…” I blush and Garrett chuckles.

  “Actually, that is supposed to happen on the wedding night,” he says. “It’s tradition to wait.”

  “Where am I going to go if you don’t want to follow tradition? I’ve only got a few feet of rope.” I laugh, but Garrett becomes serious.

  “You wouldn’t go anywhere. You would just tell me you want to wait. Binding and marriage is a partnership. We do whatever we do because we both want to do it, not just because one of us wants to. And I hope you know by now that I’d never make you do anything you don’t want to.”

  “I know,” I say. I think it’s more embarrassing to talk about it than it will be to just to do it. I rest my head on his chest so I don’t have to look him in the face and I immediately feel calmed, just by the contact. But then he keeps talking.

  “But I’m sure I’d be alright with it if you wanted to.” He laughs, lifting my fingers to his lips. His mouth is like warm velvet and his breath dances in my palm. The shiver he releases in me doesn’t stop at my belly. No matter how scared I am of taking the first step, my body aches to be his too. He kisses my fingertips, one at a time, and I love how his eyes widen as I climb into his lap and press against him, so I can feel as much as I can of him.

  I touch his nose with mine, breathing in his cologne and the lime scent of his skin. I run my lips across the planes of his cheekbones and into the hollow beneath them. He tips his head back as I follow the line of his jaw. His hair tickling my cheeks. I press my lips to his neck, the heat soaking into them, and he groans, his hands running down my legs so I spread my knees and bring us even closer. I lift my head and his mouth catches mine in a kiss that he deepens, until I’m the one that’s groaning.

  I want him.

  My body wants him.

  All the worry, all the apprehension of a few minutes ago, goes up in a flaming poof of oh my God, I want you. Instead of pulling back, I grind closer to him and his body responds. His hands are on my arms, but his touch is light, as if he’s thinking of pushing me away, but doesn’t. I feel the tight strain of his chest muscles and his upper legs pressing toward me, through his clothes, and the wild butterflies in my stomach break loose, scattering throughout my body. Knowing that he’s holding back only makes the butterflies beat even harder as they fly through my veins. The vibration becomes so intense that I can’t hold back.

  I take over the kiss, moving my mouth harder against his. I keep my eyes closed, in case a look of surprise on his face would shame me into stopping. I can’t stop. I don’t want to. Ever.

  But his tongue slowly retreats from between my lips.

  “No,” I plead against his mouth. I won’t open my eyes. I reach down and find his hands. Taking them in mine, he lets me press them against the couch, as I move my hips against his. I trace the inner track of his lips with my tongue. But he becomes a statue beneath me.

  “Don’t do that,” he whispers. “I’m trying really hard to be a gentleman here, Nalena, but I’m not a superhero.”

  “I want you,” I say, and with just a small shift of my hips, I can feel how much he wants me too. But he twists his hands so that he’s suddenly holding my fingers instead of the other way around. His sigh is ragged.

  “I want you too, but I shouldn’t have said all that about being alright with doing anything before our wedding night.” His voice is thick and his eyes stay on mine. “This isn’t the way. This is a chemical reaction…”

  “I don’t care,” I move in, kissing the corners of his mouth as he chuckles.

  “I do. This is happening because I never showed you how to dial it down. Your hormones are ramped up because of the enhanced nerve system. Comes with being one of the Contego and it can be absolutely amazing at the right moment,” he pauses, dropping his head on the back of the couch with an exasperated sigh as his grip on my hands tightens. “Or hell at the wrong one.”

  “But maybe this is the right moment.” The pounding inside me insists that this is exactly the right moment. The heat is like a throbbing light bulb and I can only focus on that one idea, no matter how hard I try to think of something else.

  “Listen to me, Nalena,” he says.
“I’ll tell you how to get your mind off this.”

  “I don’t want to.”

  “I’m not going to do this with you right now,” he says. Being turned down so bluntly should dump ice on me, but it doesn’t. I lay my chest against his and kiss his neck as he continues. “I want to do this on our wedding night. It’s considered the truest act of love and respect to be able to wait until your wedding night.”

  I pause to tell him, “Sex is a form of love.”

  “Sex is sex. That’s why I want to wait. I want you to know, forever, that what we have is real. That I loved you first. I never want you to question my commitment to you.”

  “I know you’re not in it just for sex,” I say, trying to capture his lips again. In the back of my head, I am more honest with myself and know that I don’t know for 100%, but at the moment, I’m willing to believe him because I want it so bad. He laughs, moving his hands so it locks my elbows and keeps me apart from him.

  “And I never want to question your commitment to me.” He laughs again. Frustrated, I scoot off his lap. Pushing away from him is miserable. I want to throw myself on him and force him to do it, but I know he won’t. I stand and prowl around the couch, my frustration turning to anger.

  “So we’re supposed to be Bound…together,” I snap, “and feel like this for months? And you expect me not to do anything about it?”

  “No. I expect me not to do anything about it, whenever you go horny predator on me.”

  “Thanks a lot,” I growl.

  “Let me tell you how to control it,” he says. My eyes are on his lips. I don’t want to know. I just want to kiss him.

  The lights from the courtyard suddenly flicker, behind Garrett’s head. My eyes flash away from his face and he notices.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “The lights just went out in the courtyard,” I say. Garrett’s on his feet beside me. We both know what’s happening, but we’re not positive of it until the moment we hear Teagan scream.