Cryostorm (5 page)

“Not sure yet.”

“You see why I did what I did?”

“Yeah. Still sucks, though.”

He shook his head. “Maybe we made a mistake killing you off. I didn’t anticipate this would be so difficult. I’m sorry, Mandy. I let you down again.”

“Again?” I sat up. “What do you mean again?”

“Nothing.” He waved me to stand up. “Let’s get you inside.”

“No. Tell me.”

His shoulders sagged. Boy, I sure had a track record of making confident people’s shoulders sag, didn’t I?

“I’m going to jump into my freak out mode again soon if you don’t tell me.”

“I helped kill your parents.” He closed his eyes. “That’s a
let you down
of epic proportions, Mandy.” His voice cracked.

His words stirred up the big, bad hurt that was my parents’ death, but the fact that he was taking responsibility for it was both sweet and totally inaccurate.

“And now. Maybe I should have thought this killing you off plan through a little more.”

“Nate.” I reached for his hand and yanked him down to my level. He sat before me on his knees. “You didn’t let me down. I’m a jerk. Cranky because of everything that’s going on.” I rested my forehead against his. Both of us had hats on so I couldn’t feel anything, but I loved how close he was to me.

He truly thought of me before himself, didn’t he? But why? How? Was he made that way? To be so damn perfect?

I loved it, but it sure made my many character flaws stick out like sore thumbs.

“I worry this will come between us. My history with The Center, your parents, and now this, taking you from your brother.” Nate held his breath for a few seconds before going on. “I feel selfish. I get you to myself, get to be close with you like we were earlier today—”

“And will be tonight if I get my proposed room swap approved.”

He smiled. “No objections here, but still. Everything I do is for you.”

“See, you are perfect.” I smiled and kissed the tip of his cold nose. “And yes. I know.”

“Are you cold?” he asked.

“Surprisingly, no. These igloo things are pretty awesome.”

“You know, they can reach as high as sixty degrees inside even if the temperature is fifty below outside.” He grinned. “It’s all about how the air is trapped in the snow blocks that provides the heat insulation.”

“Oh man, you did spend too much time with the books, huh?” Ever since we’d hooked up, I’d always seen him in the lead position, protector, taking care of things, organizing, and stuff like that. But now that I looked at him, and after talking with him, I realized exactly how far out of touch and inexperienced he really was.

Sure, he’d read about every experience, and had been free of The Center for a few years. But still…even while at The Center, he’d been kept from interaction with people other than to teach the students, like Jasmine, or to study subjects to learn more.

Hell, he memorized a whole false lifetime so he’d have something to talk to people about. Once I found out he was what he was, he’d dropped the persona and was flopping around like a fish out of water.

“Come on. Let me take you home.”

“Home.”

“I’m sorry. I meant the hotel.”

“I know what you meant. And thank you, Nate. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry if it hurt you that I asked about Zach, too.” I peeled off my mitten and touched Nate’s bottom lip with my finger. “I don’t want him. I want you. Only you. You know that, right?”

He nodded.

“Knock, knock.” Georgia’s voice trickled through the ice shelter. “What do we have here? A little igloo? How sweet.”

“Coming,” I said, keeping my eyes locked on Nate.

I pushed up and pressed my lips to his. “Forgive me?”

Another nod. “Did we just survive our first relationship fight?”

“I think so.” I hopped up to my feet and moved toward the door. “Was it good for you?”

“I didn’t enjoy it at all, really. Except for the part where you kissed me.”

“Yeah, well making up is the best part of any fight, I hear.” I ducked down and moved through the doorway. Tim and Georgia stood, holding bare hands, and Tim’s cheeks were flushed. “Hey, guys.”

“Cool igloo,” Tim said.

“Yeah, well, the wind was wicked. Figured I’d try it.” Nate’s tall frame popped out from the small door. “But then again, I have to work on the dimensions a little, huh?”

We laughed, Georgia melted my house, and we started on the walk back to the hotel. The subtle hum of the plow working came into earshot and we slowed. I was actually able to see the hotel lights. Sure, the floodlights were still dim circles of light, but it was better than before.

Maybe the storm was breaking. We made it to the outside of the parking lot, to where we thought Nate’s car was, but it was hard to tell beneath the piles of snow covering the vehicles. But what I did notice was a figure leaning against the side of the hotel.

There wasn’t an entrance there that I remembered. The figure was thin and tall. Didn’t move at all, just stood as if frozen.

My hackles went up, and I grabbed Nate’s arm. “You see that?”

He followed my line of sight. “What?”

“Person standing right there, side of the building. Leaning against the wall, almost at the corner.”

“Oh, yeah. Now I see it. Tim, switch on your X-ray.”

“Tough with all this static from the snow, but I’ll give it a shot.”

His eyes flashed red, then green, and he narrowed his gaze in the direction of the person.

“Shit.” Tim pulled Georgia to a stop. “It’s a person. Tall. Looks female. Darts fastened to the outside of her leg. Both of them.”

“Shit,” Georgia said. “Agent.”

“See any more?” I asked, scanning the area. “Why the hell is she outside? Wait. You said
she
?”

“Yep.”

“Long hair?” I looked at Georgia. She obviously followed my train of thought to Supermodel chick from the pool.

“Looks like it.”

“She’s our girl, then.” I looked at Nate. “From the pool.”

“We need to get her before she alerts anyone to us.”

Tim held up his hands, shaking his head. “Wait a minute. Maybe she knows nothing about us. She could—”

“She saw my mark and freaked, Tim,” Nate said. “She’s got to be a Center Agent.”

“So, not in with Andrey and Bev,” I said. “But wait, all the phone lines are down, even our cells don’t work very well.”

“But Internet is still up, or at least was before we left to play in the snow,” Georgia said. And she should know. She was messing around with her secret Facebook account.

“Shit. Then she’s probably alerted the whole freaking world.” Anger rumbled deep within me. “Which means they’re on their way to get us. Scott’s no longer safe and neither is Zach.”

“Wait. Don’t jump to any conclusions yet,” Nate said. “I’ll speed around to behind her. You guys walk into the hotel like normal. I’ll watch her and see what she does. See if she makes a move.”

“How could an Agent have landed here, in this small town, at this same freaking hotel?” As I asked the question, I knew the answer.

Georgia and I looked at each other. “Lois.”

Chapter 7

“Y
ou ready, sis?” I asked Georgia.

She nodded, waving her fingertips. Already they were flickering bright red. “Bring it. Tim stick close to me. I’ll fry that chick if she looks at you wrong, okay?”

“My hero,” Tim said.

I wondered if he was sick of not having an active power. Sure, X-ray vision, way cool. But otherwise, all Tim could do was fight really well. He was a wizard with computers and stuff like that, but he had no strength or speed. I’d hate for him to get hurt.

We moved across the parking lot toward the front of the hotel. I threw out a loud laugh, totally sounded fake, but we needed to see if she was going to attack. Nate wouldn’t let her get a shot off.

Georgia leaned into me. “Everything okay?”

“Well, no darts are sticking out of our necks—not that they’d get through all this Gore-Tex.”

“No. I mean with you and Nate.”

“Oh. Yeah.” I scanned the area again, snow pelted my face and nipped at my skin. “Fine. We’re good. He told me about Scott, Zach, and Jasmine. I’ll tell you as soon as we get Supermodel Girl under control.”

“But they’re okay, aren’t they?’

“Yep. Great.” Wonderful. How was Georgia going to react to the news? She was already mad she couldn’t be with Scott on a daily basis, wait until she found out he was getting married.

“Okay, so we go in, turn right, and go down the first floor hallway. Side exit and the entrance is there. We’ll come around from the back to see what Nate found, okay?” Tim said.

“Got it.”

It felt like minutes took hours as we neared the entrance. I half expected a team with dart-throwing guns to swarm around us, but they didn’t. Tim reached for the door, held it open, and Georgia passed through first, then me.

The dim, dark features of the lobby greeted us. To the left was the main reception desk. One tired-looking, brown-haired guy sat behind his computer. He’d been stuck with us for two days now.

To the right lay several chairs, couches, and little tables scattered around, but facing a massive stone-faced fireplace. A handful of people dotted those chairs, leaning toward the flames.

Tim led as we moved down the hallway, passing closed door after closed door. The warmth of being indoors quickly heated my frigid skin. The hot tub was calling my name, at least if Supermodel Girl could be taken care of.

The exit came into sight and we passed by the room that housed the humming ice maker and vending machines.

“Tim, let me go out first,” I said.

“No, I—”

“...Don’t have ice that darts can bounce off of. Come on, dude.” I nudged his elbow.

“Fine.” He stepped aside and let me, then Georgia moved toward the door.

“I’ve got so many clothes on, I wonder if darts can get through,” I said.

“Let’s not find out. Ice down, Mandy. I can’t fire up here because I’ll set off the alarms.”

“Stay behind me, I’ll shield you. Anyone coming?”

“We’re clear,” Tim said.

I waved my hand over my bulky clothing along the left side of my head, neck, shoulder, and arm. Thick ice covered in the wake of my movement, and I pushed open the door. Protected by my shield of ice, I scanned up toward the front of the building. I saw two dark figures. Not sure exactly what they were doing, because the swirling snow and darkness messed with my ability to see.

But it had to be Nate and Supermodel. A quick glance around and down the other side showed it was clear. I waved a thick shield of ice as tall as me and held it up as we filed out from the door and moved toward where the Supermodel had been seen.

“Tell me, damn it!” Nate yelled.

First, I never hear Nate swear, like, never. Second, his voice had morphed into a deep, resonating tone I’d never heard before. The distinct sound of wood cracking spiked my worry meter into high gear, and I hurried forward.

Nate had punched a hole in the side of the building.

“Nate?” I said.

He whirled around, fist still clenched. “It’s clear.”

I dropped the shield and hurried to him. What had he been yelling about? What had gotten him so angry he punched the wall?

Georgia and Tim fanned out and between the four of us, we had the tall, leggy girl pinned to the side of the wall by our semi-circle, all staring at her.

Defiant eyes darted between us all as if assessing her chance of getting away. She must have realized who and what we all were. Resigned to her inevitable fate, she sagged against the wall.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Mind if we step inside, it’s a bit chilly out here.” Her voice was soft, flowing, and high pitched. Behind all the winter gear, I could still see her smooth skin, big lips, and even her coat hugged her body like a glove, outlining every asset I’d never have.

“Here’s fine for now. Name?” I asked.

“Melanie. Now can we go in? Or are you going to kill me outright?” She nailed me with a glare. One filled with disgust and hatred. The loathing slid off her body like tar. How could she hate me so much without even knowing me? What’d I ever do to her?

I’m the one who should hate her. Her bosses have been the ones hunting me for years. I didn’t ask for this.

I resisted the urge to haul off and deck her because—well—I was better than that, but the urge sure was there. I glanced at Nate, and he stared at her with cold, brown, hard eyes. His gloved hands were fisted beside him.

Nate grabbed her by the arm and jerked her toward the side entrance. “Let’s go.”

I followed behind with Tim and Georgia close. “There’s no Melanie registered at the hotel,” Tim said to Georgia.

“Shocker there,” Georgia said. “False name, hiding, sneaking, kinda like an Agent, wouldn’t you say?”

Hopefully she didn’t have anything to do with Lois’s latest disappearance. Georgia’s furrowed brows indicated she worried as well.

What were the chances? This Agent being here, the very hotel Lois was supposedly registered at just days before we’d come. Then we’re snowed in?
Damn it
. This Melanie chick probably had something to do with Lois’s disappearance.

Nothing added up. God, I was sick of this. “Wait a minute,” I whispered to Georgia.

We let Nate get a few steps ahead of us on the stairwell to the second floor where our rooms were.

“What?”

“Why would they send an Agent with no powers?” I asked.

“Maybe she’s holding them back?” Georgia asked.

“Why?”

“Not all Agents have powers,” Tim said. “Some are kids of the subjects who grew up at The Center are groomed to watch and report. Let those with the abilities do the heavy hitting.”

“Shit.”

“She saw you at the pool, right?” Tim said.

“Yeah.” Georgia faced him. “Why?”

“She’s probably alerted everyone. They would have converged on the place already, though. Unless the storm is keeping everyone away.”

“You got some of that magic serum you fed Andre to get him to talk?” I asked, inching up to the next stair. I could hear Nate and Melanie walking around on the floor above us.