Courage (Mark of Nexus) (11 page)

“Yeah, but has she come after you again?” Henry leaned in. “My guess is she doesn't feel threatened. She just thinks she'll need your abilities later.”

Edwin snorted. “Like she needed yours?”

Grandma waved her arms across the table. “Now, now. Let's not take this too far. You both know Faye has a good heart. She's simply been led astray.”

As expected, Henry flinched. Like he thought saying Faye three times would summon her from the depths of ERA’s headquarters. “Clara,” he whispered. “You're being terribly naive.”

I couldn't believe my ears. “
Grandma
is being naive? You're helping a delusional woman bent on starting a revolution to assimilate everyone. And what's your plan of action? I mean, you have one, right? You're playing with the lives of millions of people here.”

“Wallace.” Grandma patted my leg in warning.

I knew she could feel my frustration, but I wanted to make sure Uncle Henry felt it, too. He was being stupid, and it was going to cost everyone.

He straightened in his seat, looking more serious than I'd ever seen him. Memories of him seeming impossibly tall, wearing bright Hawaiian prints under a lab coat, and lifting me up onto paper-covered tables shattered. My uncle didn't know everything. He didn't have all the answers.

“I think we've discussed enough for one night,” he finally said, leaning to one side so he could retrieve his wallet and toss a few bills on the table. “Here. This should cover our drinks.”

Shit.
I'd pushed him too far.

“Henry,” Grandma tried, in a calm voice. “You know we're not trying to be accusatory. We just need to get to the bottom of this before things get too complicated.”

Guilt morphed into incredulity as he eyed her, running his hands over his head. “It's already complicated. We're caught somewhere between prevention and damage control, and guess what? None of us knows what we're doing.”

He laughed, but there was no humor in his expression. “I'm being bullied by my own sister. Someone I played with, someone I took care of. I just don't believe my life anymore.”

As he scooted to the end of the booth, I stood up. “Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insinu—”

I was silenced by a wave of his hand.

“It wasn't you. It's just, I…I can't deal with this right now.” He glanced back at Grandpa Edwin and held out a hand to stabilize him. “You'll figure something out, Wallace. You
are
prophesized to save us, aren't you?”

“But I don't know
how
to save us,” I insisted, trying to keep my voice down. “I don't know how to stop her.”

His smile was grim, but sincere. “Well, that makes two of us.”

I ran my hand up and down the seatbelt until friction heated my fingertips, the next morning. “You guys were there for forty-five minutes. Did the journal stuff come up?”

“Briefly.” Wallace raked his hand through the unkempt spikes in his hair, squinting through the windshield. “Was the overpowering thing what you wanted me to read about?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.” I pushed a piece of hair out of my face. “Then, that means…”

His jaw tensed, as if he were already tired of the discussion. “Rena, we’re already tempting fate here. One more variable isn’t going to make much difference.”

“It could,” I insisted. “What if I accidentally surge you?”

“What if I accidentally hurt you?”

Touché.
I slumped down in my seat, watching festival balloons blur past on the street. “So, did he tell you anything else?”

He blew out a sigh. “I don't remember everything that was said. We were too busy trying to figure out Faye's next move.”

“Well, what did Clara think?”

“About you?” He hunched one shoulder while keeping his grip on the wheel. “She was surprised. She thought you were special, but she didn’t know anything about the Augari.”

The fact that Clara thought I was special was almost enough to make me smile. I mean, the woman had supported our relationship before we did. Too bad we were all doomed by a crazy vision. “What about ERA?”

He pulled into a parking spot and cut the engine. “She’s worried about what Faye might be planning, but she wants to reserve judgment. She thinks there could’ve been a misunderstanding.” A second ticked by before he added, “You know how she is.”

“Yeah,” I agreed as we unbuckled our seatbelts. “She loves her sister.”

He grunted and made his way around the truck to help me down. “Someone has to.”

“Faye’s married,” I reminded him as I hopped down to the gravel. “You think they’re in love?”

That earned me an “Are you serious?” look as he slammed the door.

“Okay,” I said, holding my hands up. “But they could be.”

Wallace rolled his gaze heavenward and—so help me—the man better have been praying. I realized the red rimming his eyes meant he hadn’t slept much, but that didn’t mean he had to cop an attitude with me. “Can we just drop it?”

“Why are you—?”

“Hey, guys!” Pastor Mark called from a few spaces down, busy trying to shut the back of the church van. His arms were laden with hotdogs, buns, and every grilling tool known to man. It didn’t matter how much he hopped around on one foot, there was no way he was going to get that door shut with his leg.

“Let me get some of that.” Wallace jogged over and took an armful. “Where are you headed?”

“Just up there to the grill master.” Mark nodded toward the smoke pluming behind the church. “We’ve got some tables set up, and we’re going to try to get everything going before eleven.” He turned around, shut the door, and blew out a deep breath. “Thanks for the help, man. I appreciate it.”

“No problem.” Wallace smiled, but I could tell his heart wasn’t in it. What was his problem today? Nexus-channeled PMS?

I rocked back on my heels. “So, what do you need me to do, Mark?”

He scanned the area with focused eyes. “Hmm…I do need someone to face-paint with Rachel by the bounce house. You game?”

Rachel? The winter-tights-wearing bane of my existence?

“S-Sure,” I said, trying to mask my reaction. “Why not? I’ll just, uh, head over there now…”

I flashed Wallace a quick look before making my way toward the bounce house. No use putting off my fate. He and I could talk later.

Rachel perked up when she saw me. She had her long auburn hair pulled into a glossy side-pony, and her skin practically glowed in the summer sun. Wait. Skin? Where were the trademark tights?

“Hey, Rena! Are you face-painting, too?”

“You bet,” I said, taking a seat at the other end of the table. “Not that I’ve ever done it before.”

Rachel grinned. “Don’t worry. It’s really easy. Just grab one of these.” She pointed to a set of thin little brushes in a cup, and then slid a paint pack across the table. “And wipe it off between times.”

“Great.” These kids had no idea what they were in for.

Twenty minutes passed by as I watched Rachel in nauseated fascination. The way she interacted with the hyped-up munchkins, you’d swear she was animated by a Disney studio. In fact, I was half expecting woodland creatures to pop out of the trees and sing.

“May I please borrow your blue?”

“Huh?”

Rachel smiled and gestured to the butterfly she’d been painting on a little girl’s face. “Your blue paint. May I borrow it?”

I looked down at my own, nearly full tray, and mouthed an “oh”. After the kids realized I wasn’t good for much more than hearts and stars, they all filed into her line—which was a-okay with me. “Sure.” I slid it over and watched until she finished. The girl was good, I’d give her that.

“So, did Wallace come with you?” Rachel asked in a nonchalant tone, smiling at the people who passed by.

Heh.
I wondered when that would come up. After all, she did like him before I came into the picture. Once Wallace and I announced that we had started dating, she’d backed off. Honestly, she’d accepted it with more grace than I could’ve mustered.

“Yeah, he’s helping Mark carry things.” I gestured toward the church.

She nodded. “Well, that’s nice of him.”

“Mhm.”

We watched a few more people trek by.

“So, are you two going to the…?”

Her words fell into the background as my eyes zeroed in on one festival-goer in particular—Corynn Catley. She popped up on her tiptoes, appraising the crowd, and it irked me for no reason. What was she doing here?

“—ou okay?”

I blinked and turned to Rachel, barely registering the twist in her features. “What?”

“Are you okay?” she repeated. “You look like you saw a ghost.”

“Oh…yeah.”

What could I say?
I caught a glimpse of my boyfriend’s only shot at happiness?
“Sorry.”

“Rena,” she said, ducking her head down to smile. “You can talk to me, you know.”

The honesty in her voice made me feel even worse. God, what I wouldn’t give to talk to someone about this. In fact, Rachel was probably the one person on the planet who could understand.
But still…ugh.
“Can I ask you a question?”

The sun caught in her hair as she tilted her chin, fiery strands lifting in the breeze. “Sure.”

“What made you give up on Wallace?”

The question melted her smile and pulled her lips into a mulish line. “I had to.”

“Why?”

“Because I wasn’t what he needed,” she said carefully, smoothing her hands down the front of her dress. “I wasn’t the one who made him happy.”

Happy? “But didn’t you love him?”

“Of course, Rena. I’ll always love him”—her eyes searched mine for a moment—”in my own way, but love isn’t selfish.”

Selfish…
The word punctured my heart like a jagged barb. “But you—”

“I’m not saying it didn’t hurt.”

A few kids ran past, giggling and carefree.

She took a deep breath and lowered her voice. “Look, when he brought you with him that first morning, it nearly killed me. I’d never seen him so free with his emotions, so alive and ready to conquer the world. It was like he lit up around you.”

“I-I didn’t realize,” I stammered. Crap. What had I opened up? “I’m sorry.”

Her face softened. “Don’t be. It helped me understand I wasn’t truly in love with Wallace—just the notion of someone to love. Someone who would care for me and not judge me for my past decisions, you know?”

What kind of past could Little Miss Sunshine have to be ashamed of? I opened my mouth to reply, but faltered when I saw another familiar figure jogging toward us. Oh God. “You don’t have any holy water on you, do you?”

Her brow crumpled in confusion. “What?”

“Never mind.”

“Yo, Sis,” Cole called out, lifting an arm in greeting. “Have you…” He trailed off as his gaze slid past me and landed on Rachel. “Hey there.”

“Hi.” She smiled.

I jerked my chin back and forth between them, not liking their immediate interest in each other. “What do you want, Cole?”

“Why don’t you introduce me to your friend first?” he asked, with a sly grin.

I almost answered that she wasn’t my friend, but it didn’t seem appropriate given the circumstances. “Cole, this is Rachel. Rachel, this is Wallace’s brother Cole.”

“
Enchanté
,” he said, lifting her hand to brush a kiss atop her knuckles.

Was he serious? When she started giggling, I stood up and tugged on his arm. “Easy, Loverboy. You’re looking for Wallace, right? He’s inside.”

“Fine.” He shrugged me off. “Sorry, Rach. I have to go find my knucklehead brother. Maybe I’ll catch you later? I wouldn’t mind getting painted…”

She brightened. “I’d be happy to.”

He curled his lips into that cocky, smoldering look of his. “Until then.”

Oh, for crying out loud. “I better take him, so he doesn’t get lost,” I told her. “I’ll be right back.”

Rachel nodded, her face still tinged pink. “Sure.”

I grabbed Cole’s sleeve and took off, weaving through throngs of people and smoky, barbeque-scented clouds. He had to be kidding me. When we finally made it to the foyer, I turned on him. “Have you lost your damn mind?”

He twisted away from me. “What?”

“Not here. You cannot mess with people here, Cole. This is a church festival.”

“I’m not the one cursing and jerking people around,” he hissed. “Besides, she was hot.”

I gritted my teeth. “I don’t care. She’s off limits.”

“Why?”

That was a good question. It wasn’t my job to protect Rachel from Wallace’s deranged twin. But I couldn’t take the chance that he’d do something bad, right? Cole was a wildcard. “Just stay away from her.”

“What if I don’t?”

“I’ll harvest your organs.”

He smirked. “Oh, I’ve got an organ you can harvest.”

I slapped my hands over my ears. “Gross!”

“What’s gross?” Wallace’s voice echoed around the vacant foyer as he carried a tray of meat from the kitchen. “Cole, what’re you doing here?”

“Getting abused.” He rubbed his arm and glared at me, before getting to whatever it was he’d come for. “I brought the papers.”

I uncovered my ears, not that the childish gesture had kept me from hearing anything. “What papers?”

Cole lifted his brows at Wallace. “You still haven’t told her?”

“Told me what?” I asked, looking between them. First Aiden, now this. Why were people keeping things from me all of a sudden?

Wallace set the tray down and took a step toward me. “I wanted to tell you. I just thought we should wait until we had a little more evidence. There was no use stressing you out over nothing.”

“What’s nothing?”

Cole waved me off as he dug around in his pockets. “ERA’s done with the virus, we still have no idea what it's for, and it’ll probably kill everyone. So, why can’t I date this girl?”

My eye twitched, and I drew a slow, patience-laced breath through my nose. “You’re telling me Faye wasn’t bluffing?”

Wallace wedged himself between us. “Wait a sec. Bluffing about what?”

“I was coming to tell you yesterday,” I said. “But then the whole Nullari thing happened.” As I recounted the classroom encounter, his face took on an unsettling shade of red.

“Why?” He turned around, snatched a crinkled wad of papers from Cole’s hands, and flattened them. “What could they possibly gain from this? And why would they want you to join ERA now?”

“Another funny thing,” Cole interrupted, swiping his thumb across his tongue before flipping to the last few pages. “They’re making a roster, based on the information they took from Edwin. Dynari, Nullari…” He leaned forward to meet my eyes. “Augari.”

Shit.
“My family.”

“Uh huh.” Cole nodded as he began to pace. “And it doesn’t end there. They’re doing their homework. Locations, relationships, abilities. We’re talking a database full of profiles from all around the world. It’ll take some time, though.”

I couldn’t think. My ears were ringing too loudly. I grabbed a fistful of Wallace’s shirt. “We can’t let them find my parents. Or Drew. Anyone…”

“I know, baby.” Wallace opened his arms and let me fall into his refuge. This was how most of our hugs went. No squeeze of reassurance, no warmth in clinging to each other, just robotic comfort that would’ve sufficed any other time—but not today.

“We’ll get through this,” he murmured against my hair. “We just have to—”

“There you are!” Corynn barged through the front door with a grin. “I’ve been looking all over the place for you two. Feels weird wandering around a festival not knowing anyone, ya know?”

I stiffened in his arms. “What’re you doing here?”

“Is this not a public thing?” She reached into her back pocket and produced a wrinkled flyer. “Faye suggested I get better acquainted with the community during my free time, so she gave me the info. Said you two might be here to show me around.”

Cole cocked his head to the side. “Then, you’re the…” He took a step toward her and froze, like he was focusing on something. A few seconds ticked by, and he took another step. This time, he looked back and forth between us. “Huh.”