Invisible
Page 30
Chapter 25
Nothing in Between
(Mason)
My hands are pressed flat against the table as I watch Hayden and Olivia. Why is he so close to her? Why does he have to touch her so often? What is with his stupid smile? My fingers curl under into fists. Why is she letting him act like this?
“Mason.”
“Mason.”
“Mason!” Robin snaps.
I can’t bring myself to look away from Olivia, but I snap right back at her. “What?”
“Stop staring at them. It’s not going to do you any good.”
“It might,” I argue.
She shakes her head. “It won’t. Now stop it.” She gives me a moment to comply on my own, but when I don’t she kicks my shin from under the table.
“Ow!” I rub my leg angrily.
Robin just shrugs. “I told you to knock it off.”
“I bet he was involved,” I grumble.
Looking over at me with a confused expression, Robin asks, “Involved in what?”
“The attack last night. I bet Hayden lured her out into the open …”
“Give it a rest!” Robin snaps. She’d probably yell if she could, but that would draw a lot of attention. “Hayden had nothing to do with Olivia getting attacked last night and you know it.”
“He could have. He could be a Sentinel.”
Robin rolls her eyes. “If he is, he’s a pretty lousy one. You said you’ve known him since sixth grade. If he were really a Sentinel he’d have figured you out by now. They may not be able to see you, but they can feel it when you’re nearby, remember?”
“He could still …”
“Mason,” Robin says firmly, “he’s not a Sentinel. Drop it.”
Sinking into my chair, I fold my arms over my chest and continue to glare at Hayden. I knew he was interested in Olivia. He has been for a long time. It’s a miracle Olivia remained completely oblivious to his advances as long as she did. How can my luck be so lousy that the second I try to step back from Olivia, Hayden is right there to sweep her off her feet like some kind of freaking fairytale hero?
“Hey, Angry Boy,” Robin calls out to me.
I sneer at the nickname, but still look over at her.
“So, what are we going to do about these Sentinels running amuck through your neighborhood?”
“What can we do?” I ask. If I get too close to one of them, they’ll recognize me for what I am.
Robin shrugs. “I don’t know, but moping certainly isn’t useful.”
“Shut up,” I growl.
Tossing down her fork, Robin glares at me. “Look, for the record, I told you the whole pretending to date me thing was a stupid idea. I told you Olivia would be hurt. I told you to just tell her the truth about leaving.”
“I couldn’t tell her.”
“Haven’t you ever heard that whole ‘tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all’ saying?”
Rolling my eyes at her, I say, “It’s not that simple. As far as you know, once I leave, I’ll never come back. I’d be holding Olivia back when she could be finding someone she has an actual future with.”
“Isn’t that what she’s doing with Hayden?”
Hunching my shoulders, I refuse to answer that question. Why did it have to be Hayden? I can’t stand him!
“So you thought pissing her off and making her think you’re a total dirtbag would be a better way to spend the next three weeks?” Robin shakes her head at me when I don’t answer.
Of course it isn’t better. I hate it. I am furious with myself that Olivia got hurt because I wasn’t there to protect her. Then again, if I had been there, the Sentinel would have found me and then I’d be dead.
“I didn’t think she’d hate me,” I mumble.
“Well, you’re an idiot.”
My eyes snap up to Robin angrily.
She shrugs. “You spent the night with her, kissed her that morning, all but outright told her you are so head over in heels in love with her that you can barely stand it… and then you hooked up with another girl. You really thought she’d still want to be friends after that?”
My chin drops to my chest. Yes, I did, and Robin is right that I’m an idiot. I just didn’t think Olivia could ever look at me like she did last night. Then again, I’m sure she never thought I would do something so horrible to her, either.
“Mason, maybe if you explained to Olivia …”
“No,” I say automatically.
She tries to say something else, but I cut her off. “What are you complaining about, anyway? You got what you wanted out of this deal.”
Robin stares at me, wounded. “I went along with this because you begged me to. I didn’t do this because I wanted to date you at the expense of Olivia.”
She starts gathering her trash and slamming it back onto her tray. I sit up quickly and grab at her wrist. I catch her before she can bolt. Forcing her to look at me, I say, “Robin, I’m sorry. I never should have said that. I didn’t mean it, and I know you didn’t want to hurt Olivia. It was a terrible thing to say.”
Robin stops trying to escape my grip and calms back down. She doesn’t push me away when I turn my restraining grip into a gentler one. She pulls her hand back slowly until my palm falls into her hand.
“What are we going to do about the Sentinels?” she asks again.
This time I have an answer. “We’re going to find them.”
“And do what?”
“I don’t know. I just know I won’t let them hurt Olivia again.”
Robin looks down at the table. “They’ll never give up, Mason. There’s no way to stop them from feeling your presence. The only way to make sure they don’t kill you is to kill them.”
“Then that’s what I’ll have to do.”
“How?”
I shake my head. I have no idea. I’ve never killed anyone before, let alone some kind of super hunter. I’ll figure it out as I go along.
“Even if you kill them,” Robin says, “the other Sentinels will realize they’re missing. They’ll send more to figure out what happened and look for you.”
“I don’t have to keep this up forever,” I remind her, “only until my birthday. Then they should be safe.”
My hopeful words linger between us. I want to believe they are true, but I have no way of knowing. I won’t even be here to find out. How can they expect me to leave not knowing whether or not my family is safe? They. I don’t even know who they are. My biological parents? Someone else? I have no idea.
“What if …” Robin begins. She takes a deep breath and starts over. “What if the same thing that happened to your Caretakers happens again?”
“It won’t. I won’t let it.”
Robin’s other hand comes up and presses over our already joined hands. “Mason, you can’t promise that. We need to find the Sentinels. What if we could capture one and figure out why they’re so keen on you?”
“If we capture one, he could never be let go. He would know I’m an Aerling and where to find me.”
Fighting back fear, Robin says, “I know.”
It brings me a sick sense of relief to hear her say that. “Okay. This afternoon, then, we need to find out where they’re watching us from.”
“Then what?”
“Then we find out how many of them there are, what their weaknesses are, and how to get rid of them. What happened to Olivia last night won’t be their last attempt.”
“No,” Robin agrees, “it won’t.”
I want to ask Robin to do one more thing, but fear keeps me quiet for a moment. I know Olivia was right when she said talking to other Caretakers was too dangerous, but I can feel the clock ticking now and I don’t think we can afford to be in the dark for too much longer.
“Robin, without telling your parents about me, do you think you could try to find out more about all of this?”
Robin nod
s carefully. “I can talk to my grandma more, and I’m sure I can ask my parents about a few things without raising their suspicions. I’ll find out as much as I can.”
“Thank you, Robin.”
The bell rings, but Robin doesn’t move right away. Instead, she looks up at me with a sad expression. “Can you do something for me?”
“What?” I ask warily.
“Quit hounding Olivia and Hayden.” I start to react right away, but she cuts me off. “Look, I still think you should tell her the truth, but if you’re really set on this stupid plan, you have to back off and actually let her move on. It’s either one way or the other, nothing in between, do you understand me?”
I hate knowing that she’s right. Being with Robin so Olivia can move on won’t work if I’m constantly hovering over her shoulder reminding her of what might have been. I would only be hurting her more. Despair crashes over me as I say, “Fine, I’ll back off.”