Damage (14 page)

The FBI agents at my door.

I curse under my breath and put on a burst of speed. The street is quieter than any we’ve been on so far. No one is out in the crisp winter air, and a giant blow-up Santa waving in a yard across the street is the only thing that moves. I push faster. I have to risk being seen running like a mutant in the name of getting to Dani before it’s too late. No way were those FBI agents real FBI. They’re probably people like Vince, hired to bring me and Dani in to whoever is in charge. And if those people can afford to hire a small army to track us, we’re in even bigger trouble than we imagined.

“Dani, stop.” I’m close enough now that I don’t have to yell, close enough that I can hear her sob beneath her breath before she digs deep and pours on her own blast of speed.

She’s fast, but I’m faster. At the top of the hill, she veers off the street toward a house with a yard big enough to double as a football field. I tackle her, praying no one is looking out their window at this exact moment and getting ready to call the police. As we fall, I hold her tight and roll hard to my left, making sure I take the brunt of the fall.

Still, we hit hard enough that we roll across the grass. Once, twice, three times.

By the time we stop I’m on top, a position uncomfortably similar to the one we were in half an hour ago. In my bed. The thought makes me swallow and my grip loosen enough for her hands to slip through my fingers.

“Get off me!” she pants, fighting as I try to regain hold of her arms.

“Please, just let me explain.” I barely avoid the fist she lets fly at my face. I grab her wrists, using only enough strength to keep her from hurting me. “I promise I’ll let you go if you’ll just listen for one minute. Please!”

“You’re a liar!” Her arms twist and her knee jerks up, coming close enough to hitting its mark that my stomach cramps and flutters. Quickly, I pin her legs with mine, determined to be able to have kids by the time we leave this yard.

Not that I ever want to have kids … but still. Girls have no idea how bad that hurts, and that’s when they’re kneeing you in the nuts with a normal amount of strength, not some kind of superhuman mojo.

Dani is definitely channeling some intense energy. I’m sure I weigh close to a hundred pounds more than she does, but it isn’t easy to keep her pinned. When she arches her back, she nearly lifts me off the ground—a fact that seems to shock her as much as it shocks me. She freezes, her eyes wide, limbs trembling.

“I’m not a liar,” I say, taking advantage of her brief silence. “I swear to you, I had no idea that Vince was Vince or that he was working for anyone else or that they were going to wreck the bus. He was just some guy that showed up at my soccer game. I swear.”

Her eyes narrow. “Some guy who gave you money to lie to me.”

“No, I never lied, I—”

“You did. You’re lying right now.” She thrashes and I struggle to keep her from freeing herself and taking her lethal fists to my face.

“Dani, please!” I lean closer, willing her to look at me, to see that I would never hurt her. “All he asked me to do was make sure you were on the bus, and that I was, too. That’s it.”

She stops struggling, but I can tell she isn’t convinced. I’m going to have to work a lot harder. I take a deep breath, forcing myself to speak from that place of truth inside me that I so rarely have reason to access. I’ve spent my entire life trying to hide that place, to hide my fear and my craziness and my weakness. But for some reason … with Dani … I know she won’t think I’m weak.

“I thought he was just some weird old guy.”

She rolls her eyes. “Well, great, I—”

“But as soon as I took the money, I knew I shouldn’t have. I was … scared. I didn’t want him to hurt you,” I say, my throat tight, images of Vince’s hands on Dani making me want to punch something. Preferably his face. “I promised myself that I would follow you around the city and make sure you were safe. That’s why I signed up for that stupid dancing Santa show.”

“It’s not stupid,” she whispers, a softness around her eyes. The tension eases slowly from her body. “The Rockettes are amazing athletes. And talented performers.”

“Oh.” I’m suddenly very aware of the way her body fits against mine. Now that we aren’t fighting, it seems strange to stay here on the cold ground, but I don’t make any move to get up. She feels … good. Really good. “I … I forgot you were a dancer.”

“How did you even know I was a dancer?” she asks, but seems more curious than suspicious. “We’ve never said a word to each other before today.”

“Because I’ve noticed you.” My cheeks heat at the confession. Am I actually blushing? Is that even possible? Just this morning I would have said “no way in hell,” but that was before Dani. “I knew your name before Vince told me who you were. I knew that you’re in the honors society and a dancer, and that you always wear pants to school.”

“You like skirts better?”

“I like … ”

“Like what?” she asks in a husky voice that makes me shiver.

“I like pants. I like … you.”

She lets out a breath. It eases from between her parted lips and feathers against mine. I lean even closer, so close that a shift of my head will bring our mouths together … if she’ll let me.

Will she? I can’t tell. I can’t read her feelings in her eyes anymore. She’s still shut off from me, hiding.

“You noticed all those things?” she asks.

“Yeah. I think you’re very noticeable.”

“I’m not noticeable.” Dani’s eyes drop to my chest. Her eyelashes are so long, impossibly long, and dark against her pale skin. I’ve never thought much about eyelashes before, but I think about them now. Dani’s are beautiful, another piece of her I could stare at for hours. “I’m the least noticeable girl at Mad Prep. I look like a twelve-year-old boy.”

I snort; I can’t help it.

“Are you laughing at me?” Her eyes flicker back to mine.

I smile. “You don’t look like a boy. Not even a little bit.”

“I don’t?” she asks, the way her tongue slips out between her lips making me think that she’s as aware of me as I am of her.

“No.” Her ribs press against my chest when she breathes, her legs shift beneath mine. “You don’t feel like a boy either.”

“No?” Her chin lifts. Only an inch now. An inch and we’ll be kissing again. But do I dare?

“No. I liked kissing you.”

“Then why did you stop?”

“Because I felt bad.” I push her hair back from her face and trail my fingers down the soft skin at her neck, shocked by how amazing it feels when she shivers in response. I know how to make a girl feel good, but I’ve never known it could make me feel so good. But touching Dani, seeing her breath get faster and knowing it’s because of me … it’s as good as having her touch me. Maybe even better. “I knew I should tell you about the guy who gave me the money. I promise I was about to say something when those fake FBI guys knocked on the door.”

She bites her lip and her breath comes out in a rush, and I know I’ve killed the mood. I won’t be getting that second kiss. Not right now, anyway. I roll to the side as Dani pushes up on her elbows, telling myself that it’s stupid to feel so disappointed. She doesn’t seem to hate me anymore. I should be grateful.

“So, do you think they’re the people Vince is working for?” She brushes dried grass from the back of her sweatshirt.

“I thought they were people
like
Vince. You know, people hired to look for us, but maybe … ” I shrug, standing when she does. “I guess they could be the ones who hired him.”

“Whether they are or not, I don’t think this has anything to do with my dad’s arthritis vaccine. I think Vince was lying to Penny.”

“Me too. It has to have something to do with us. With what’s different about us.” I try to read what she thinks of that idea in her expression, but can’t. She might not hate me, but she still isn’t open and easy the way she was before. It makes me feel like shit. I promise myself that I won’t stop working until Dani knows she can believe in me and that I will never lie to her ever again.

“With Rachel and the dragon, and getting stronger all of a sudden,” I clarify. “I mean, it’s the only thing the two of us have in common.”

Just the mention of her tormentor’s name makes Dani’s eyes dart nervously around the lawn. “Where do you think they are? Why haven’t they shown up for a while?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t think we should let our guard down. About them or anything else. We need to find a place to hide. And we should probably eat and drink something.”

“We can go in here.” Dani motions toward the big house. “It’s Mina’s house. I know where they hide their spare key and I’ve got the combination for the security system.”

“But what if her parents—”

“Her mom and stepdad work and her brothers go to kindergarten and daycare.”

I study the dark windows at the front of the house. “Okay, but we shouldn’t stay long. I have a feeling the people looking for us know who your friends are.”

Dani nods. “I thought the same thing. Vince probably pumped Penny for information. But I just … I didn’t know where else to go after … ” She sighs. “I’m just glad we’re not on different sides.”

“Me too. I promise I’ll do everything I can to keep us both safe.”

“I believe you,” Dani says, easing something inside of me.

It isn’t trust, but it’s a start.

Jesse

Dani turns and hurries across the lawn. I follow, slowing my pace to match hers as we circle around the side of the house. Up close I can see that the paint job is peeling and a few of the shingles have slid off the roof. They lie where they’ve fallen on the ground, a crooked obstacle course covering the grass. It makes me feel better about where I live. Apparently even rich people can let their houses start to look like crap.

Dani pauses near concrete steps descending down into the ground, ending at a door I’m guessing leads to the basement. She pulls a copper key from one of the cracks between the stairs and continues around the house. “We’ll use the back door. They let their housekeeper go about a year ago, and it doesn’t look like anyone’s home. But if they are, they’re almost never in the kitchen. Mina’s mom doesn’t cook.”

I nod, ignoring the anxious feeling in my stomach as Dani lets us in and punches a five-digit code into the panel on the wall. We aren’t technically intruders—Dani is a friend of the family—but it feels like we’re doing something we shouldn’t. I guess Dani feels the same way because she doesn’t waste any time. She goes straight to the sink and fills two glasses of water. She pushes mine across the island and lifts her own, pounding it down in four long gulps before pouring herself another.

Suddenly, I realize how thirsty I am. Insanely thirsty. I gulp my own drink and pass it back to Dani for a refill as my stomach growls, sending up a hunger alert. I look up to see Dani sliding my water and a can of nuts across the island. Another can of nuts follows, and then another.

“They’re really into nuts.” Dani pops some cashews into her mouth and flips on the television near the sink, punching the buttons to lower the volume and then turning to the local channel where the weirdly tan weatherman is talking about a chance of snow. “I want to see if there’s anything about the crash on the news.”

“Good idea.” I grab a handful of almonds and reach for another before I’ve even started to chew. I’m starving, and not a normal, just-had-a-killer-soccer-practice starving. It’s like I haven’t eaten in days.

“I think we need to eat more,” Dani says.

“I had food in my backpack, but … Shit.” My backpack’s gone. Screw the snacks; I had nearly a hundred dollars in there.

“What’s wrong?”

“I lost my backpack. I guess I left it in the phone booth.”

“It’s okay. I can pack something before we go. Mina’s parents won’t care if we take some granola bars.” She chews for a moment, swallowing before she reaches for the peanuts. “I think whatever’s happening to us is making us burn through calories faster. Superhuman speed probably takes a lot of energy.”

“Yeah, I was thinking about that too.” Superhuman. Mutant. I’ve thrown the words around in my head, but there hasn’t really been time to stop and think about them. “It’s like we’re on extra-strength steroids or something.”

“But even super steroids wouldn’t explain why we’re healing so fast.”