Cheating Time (34 page)

"Carles, Thorne told me to stay with you.
Plus, you might need me to protect you," Rorie said.

She was determined to follow her brother's
orders and at the same time protect me if that's what I needed. She
was braver than I could've ever imagined. For the hundredth time
since I met the girl before me, I wondered how the world had
underestimated what she and others like her offered. If anything, I
wished there were more people like her and less like Barone.

I smiled and very carefully explained our
situation. "He didn't know Barone was out there or he would've told
you to hide. Now that we know, I'm going to ask you to do what you
know Thorne would want. Then I'm going to remind you to stay hidden
no matter what
. I'll protect myself
if I need to, but I know for a fact he won't hurt me."

As if she understood my urgency, Rorie got
up and ran behind the screen and tucked herself into a ball. When I
remembered Jayden seeing my silhouette, I rushed behind the screen
and turned off the examination light. Then I grabbed a sheet and
covered Rorie right before I put a finger to my lips.
"
Shh!"
was the last order I gave
her.

I was just about to sit back down on my cot
when the flap to the tent flew open. There stood Barone. He had a
grin that was wider than any he'd ever given me when he rushed
toward me and pulled me into his chest.

"Carlie! Oh my God! Carlie! I'm so glad to
see you up and about."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Jayden and
Thorne standing on either side of the tent's entryway. Guarding it.
Thorne was most anxious as he looked around for Rorie.

While Barone had me pulled into his chest
and before he could see me silently communicate with Thorne, I
darted my eyes several times over to the screen. I hoped he
understood that Rorie was there. When he infinitesimally nodded his
head, I knew he'd gotten the message. Rorie was safe, and for him,
that was all that mattered.

When Barone pulled me back, he began
inspecting me. The examination light may have been off, but there
was still plenty of light within the infirmary so he could see my
wounds in all their glory.

He turned my head to the side and blew out
an exasperated breath before yelling, "St. Romaine! I sent you here
to protect her, and this is what I get? I told you how important it
was for her to remain unharmed. The fact that she almost died… the
fact that she'll bear these scars the rest of her life makes me
wonder if Sam's opinion of you is overinflated."

Jayden looked as if he'd been slapped.
Rather than defend himself, he said, "You're right, sir. It was my
responsibility to protect her at all cost. I failed. I failed
miserably."

What the hell?

"No one failed. The entire thing was my
fault. Jayden couldn't have prevented this," I objected.

When Barone turned a curious glance back
toward me, I realized I didn't know the official story. I went out
of my way to avoid mentioning Tawney or Gran.

"How so, Carlie?" Barone asked, tilting his
head to the side.

My shoulders bobbed. "I-I don't remember a
lot. Jayden and I were hiking… and I was tired. I told him I needed
to rest. There was a log that looked like it would be good to lean
against. I dropped down next to it only to find there was a bed of
snakes curled up near its base. When they began attacking, I-I
couldn't move. Jayden saw what was happening, jumped in the middle
of them with me, and began kicking them away from me. Picking them
up and throwing them as far away from me as possible. Trust me, he
did everything he could to protect me from the snakes and get me
the help I needed."

Barone's eyes landed back on Jayden. His
earlier contempt was replaced with admiration, the admiration
Jayden deserved.

"You're right, Carlie. Any man willing to
jump into a bed of snakes for you needs both recognition and a
reward," Barone proclaimed in much the way a medieval king would if
he had a soldier who'd successfully protected his property.

Jayden shook his head. "I'm your Surrogate,
sir. It is my pleasure to serve you. I only wish I could have done
more for you.
For her.
" Jayden
nodded to me.

Everything about the subservience Jayden
showed toward Barone sickened me and reinforced the fact that
Barone was untouchable. My parents adored the ground Barone walked
on, and Jayden idolized the man and the position. There was no one
I could talk to about what he'd done to me and what he had planned
for me.

Suddenly, I began questioning the mandate
that Thorne and I be married.

Why would he have insisted
upon that when he had other plans for me?

If I said the first word about what I knew
to be true, everyone would assume I'd lost my mind. There was no
way anyone would believe the president of our nation would risk his
position and our nation's safety because of his infatuation with a
seventeen-year-old girl.

If I'd not lived through the last seventeen
years of his concentrated attention and if I'd not been party to
the kiss myself, I'd think the same thing. The thing was I knew
what his plans were and I had no intention of becoming the first
teenaged First Lady or a teenaged First Mistress or whatever it was
he'd been planning for me to be.

I eyed the brainwashed Surrogate that I'd
been stealing kisses with for the last week, and instantly, it
occurred to me something was off. Jayden had never treated me
kindly. We'd always swapped insults like they were tennis balls and
we were professional players. I should've guessed his sudden
infatuation was concocted to control me.

Just like he'd controlled
Tawney. Goddamn him to hell! He's been messing with me.

He saw the minute realization sank in, and
he had the good sense to look embarrassed. No one was more
embarrassed than me. I'd been duped. I thought he'd missed me so
much that he finally admitted feelings he'd always had for me. He'd
known all along I cared. Without a second thought or a backward
glance, he served me up on a platter to the pedophile controlling
his every action.

Controlling all of our
actions.

Thorne's stare bounced between Jayden and
me. He realized something was going on but was confused about what
it really was.

"What shall we give you for a reward?"
Barone asked.

I gulped. This would be the moment of truth.
Jayden's request would give me a very clear picture of who he
was.

"I'd like to be promoted to a Lead Surrogate
position, sir. It's all I've ever wanted," Jayden said with the
detachment of a loyal soldier determined to put his president and
country ahead of his own needs.
My
needs.

I blinked back tears. I'd been a means to an
end. He'd been told that if he brought me back alive, he'd get the
one thing he wanted his whole life. To be a Lead Surrogate Soldier,
the highest ranking position for his kind.

He never cared for me, and
the only reason he cared if I lived or died is because of his
orders. Jesus! How could I have been so stupid?

"There's never been two Lead Surrogate
Soldiers, St. Romaine. Are you suggesting there be two now?"

"No, sir. I'm suggesting Surrogate Manniless
be demoted back into the ranks," Jayden shouted with the choppiness
of a soldier answering his commander in chief.

"The fact is, St. Romaine, he was given the
same orders you were: bring Carles Enoche back to me. You were the
only one who could get close to her family. You were the only one
who convinced her parents to return to their duties. You were the
one to rescue her from near death. If either of you should be Lead
Surrogate, I believe it's you who's proven to be worthy. As soon as
I get back to the office, I'll draw up the proclamation and sign
it." Barone conceded.

Jayden reached into his back pocket and
pulled out a piece of paper. At the top, I saw the official Aspect
Society seal. "I have the papers right here, sir. The sooner you
sign it, the sooner I can take on the official duty of notifying
Surrogate Manniless of his demotion."

Barone was as pleased with Jayden as I
suspect he'd ever been with anyone. He admired the way Jayden saw
what he wanted and lied, cheated, and manipulated everyone until he
got it. Rather than risk anything happening between now and when
the president made it back to his office, Jayden was prepared with
the necessary papers.

He really is the perfect
soldier, isn't he?

If anyone deserved the lead position, it was
the man who'd pulverized my heart into particles of dust so fine
they could never be molded back together or left in any condition
to ever care for anyone again.

Barone took the papers from Jayden's hand,
pulled a pen from his pocket, and, as promised, signed them before
pushing a button on the pen, pricking his thumb, and embedding his
genetic code within the document. As quick as that, he'd made
Jayden the Lead Surrogate Soldier. There were only two people more
powerful within Aspect Society, the president himself and my father
when he'd been Secretary of Defense.

Jayden's promotion was as tainted as
Barone's presidency. I couldn't celebrate it because it came with a
cost, one that involved lying, cheating, and betraying, and there
was nothing I could say or do to him or Dad to make either of them
realize that what he'd done had been wrong. Dad loved Jayden like
he was a son. I couldn't very well tell him I had a crush on Jayden
and that Jayden had hurt me, all the while saving me and my entire
family's lives.

Dammit! There really is no
way for me to win, is there?

Jayden's grin spread from ear to ear the
instant he had the papers back in his hands. His new position was
one of great honor and prestige. I wanted to be proud of him and
for him, I just couldn't. Not when it felt like my heart had been
ripped from my chest.

It took everything in me to pretend as if I
wasn't hurting, to pretend as if I thought he deserved a promotion,
to pretend as if I wasn't repulsed by the touch of Barone's hands
on my bare skin.

It was Thorne who realized my collapse was
near. He stepped toward me and said, "Sir, Carles is still
recovering. Sh-she needs her rest. General St. Romaine and the
others will show you where your tent is located. I think you'll
find the amenities to your standards."

Barone glanced around. "Where has Carlie
been staying? Why hasn't she been staying in my tent?"

Thorne nodded. "She's been a patient here.
I've been monitoring her vital signs and giving her medication.
Your tent is not set up with the equipment necessary for me to take
care of her appropriately," Thorne explained.

Barone seemed satisfied. "Very well, then.
I'm going to my tent to get some rest. After I awake, I'm going to
tour the camp, thank the team for their support, and Carlie and I
are heading back to the city.
My special
little girl
only has a few more days before her
seventeenth birthday. I have celebration plans for her."

Barone turned back toward me and smiled like
he and I were already lovers.

"You didn't think I'd forget, did you?
You're
my special little girl
. I'd
remember your birthday before I'd remember my own," he said.

If you say
my special little girl
one more time, I'm
going to kick you in the face myself and run.

"Thank you," I said lamely.

Really, I wasn't sure what the hell I was
supposed to say to that.

"I have a celebration you'll never forget
planned for us," he promised, and the mere thought of plans with
him made a little vomit bubble to the back of my throat.

I swallowed it down and smiled. I knew well
the mask I was supposed to be wearing. It was one I'd become
familiar with over the years, and because of that, it slipped on
easier than it should have.

Jayden…
I
mean
… General St. Romaine looked like he wanted to talk
to me. I avoided his stares and pretended as though I had no idea
we even needed to speak, pretended as though those late-night
make-out sessions were an everyday occurrence for me.

Like the good lap dog he was, Jayden
followed President Barone from the tent. A few seconds later, he
popped his head back in and said, "I'll be back after the president
is settled."

I whirled around and whisper-shouted, "Don't
you think about coming back here. If you do, I swear to God I'll
throttle you until my hands are covered in blood. Then I'll gouge
out your eyes just because I can."

Jayden's mouth dropped open like he couldn't
believe what I'd just said, and Thorne was back to glancing back
and forth between us like he was trying to figure out what the hell
just happened.

I stared over to Thorne. "Get Rorie out of
hiding, put her back in bed, and let's get some sleep."

Without another word, I walked over to my
cot, picked up Jayden's sleeping bag, and threw it at him. I would
have given my pinky finger for it to have been a baseball I could
have aimed at Jayden's nose. If it had been, I would have used
every ounce of hurt, hate, and anger surging through me to hit my
mark.

I swear to God…