Evanescent (25 page)

Laken sighs as if she heard me.

And I’m sure she did.

Laken

After a mouthwatering session of kisses down at
Charity Lake, Wes and I return to Austen House where he insists on
walking me to Jen’s haunted abode.

It would figure—right after I convinced him
that I’ve been sleeping in Jen’s room this whole time, he most
likely wants proof. So much for having a trusting relationship,
although, in Wesley’s defense, it was me who lied.

We walk down into Austen’s bowels, through a
cinderblock hallway, before landing in the housemother’s
quarters.

How Jen can stand being holed up in this
twisted lair is beyond me. I’m terrified being
upstairs
by
myself where it’s opulent and scented with designer perfume, and
here she is in a hovel, with the smell of mold thick in the
air.

I give a gentle knock. “Are you decent?”

“Since when do you care?” Her voice carries
through the wood, muffled, as I step inside and find her brushing
her teeth. The room is oversized and boxy with the walls painted
the dull brown of a paper bag.

Here it is, the split second I have to
convince her to help me. If ever Jen was going to be a true sister
to me—this was when I needed her most.

“Jen?” I sharpen my gaze until she ceases
her rather violent scouring session. Here it goes. I need to hone
in on those sisterly vibes and make it clear that my ass is on the
line. I widen my eyes, round as wall clocks, and clear my throat.
My relationship with Wes might very well end within a thirty-second
time span if she inadvertently rats me out. “I want you to look Wes
in the eye and tell him where I’ve spent the night these past three
weeks.”

Jen holds out a finger. She spits in the
sink and wipes her mouth with a towel.

“Austen House,” she says, making her way to
the bed. Her long flannel gown, with its delicate print of
cornflowers, reminds me of something my mother would wear. “Ask me
something a little more challenging next time.”

Wes catches my gaze in the mirror. I can
tell he’s not satisfied.

“Let’s just drop this, Laken.” He presses a
kiss against my cheek.

“No,” I say. “Jen, where in Austen House
have I been sleeping?”

Jen washes those pale eyes over me as if
I’ve just done something heinous.

“Right here with me. We’ve slept toes to
nose, and I’m ready to call HAZMAT over your lack of hygiene.
Anything else?” She plucks a magazine from off the floor and leafs
through the glossy pages.

Holy shit. I step away from Wes. I do
believe Jenevieve Anderson just told her very first lie—and it was
to protect me, her sister.

She scowls at us. “Would you guys mind
holding off on the interrogation? I’m beyond exhausted. By the way,
Wes, your brother is an ass in the truest form.”

Add cursing to her shortlist of brand new
personality traits she’s developed this evening.

“I’d better go.” Wes presses out a humble
smile.

I walk him back to the dank hall, and the
lights dim before coming up full strength again.

“It’s like this whole place is haunted,” I
whisper. “Hey”—I bite my lip and look up at him with all of the
faux curiosity I can muster—“where did you think I was this whole
time? You didn’t think I was secretly shacking up with Cooper or
something?” I try to look aghast at the concept.

“I don’t know what I thought.” Wes lowers
his gaze. He’s so consummately gorgeous, my dark knight, my best
friend, and here I am feeding him barefaced lies. “Grayson was
filling my head with a bunch of bullshit, and I must have been in
the mood because I was taking it in as fast as she gave it.”

“Figures it was Grayson.” I shake my head.
“I can’t wait until I graduate. Until we can move
in
together, until I can stop being your wife in spirit and take on
the actual role.” I run my finger down his chest. “I love you so
much, Wes. I would never want to hurt you.” I mean every single
word.

Wes pulls me in tight and his chest pumps as
if he’s shedding silent tears.

“I would never want to hurt you either,
Laken.” He leans back and looks me right in the eye. “You’re my
everything. I never want to lose you. I want to share the whole
world with you—I want to share a lifetime—
forever
.”

I latch onto Wes, and we hold each other a
very long time.

We’re going to love each other forever.

I just hope we’re together while doing
so.

Once Wes takes off, I head back into the
room with Jen to thank her for the spontaneous performance.

“I’m going to nominate you for an Oscar,” I
say, slipping beside her on the bed.

“What the hell was that about?” She sits up,
looking genuinely concerned but far more pissed.

“Well…” I shrug. “I can’t.” My voice cracks.
The damn is going to burst if I let it, so I just press my lips
together.

“Oh, Laken.” She scoots in and hitches a
loose hair behind my ear. “You’ve been seeing Cooper again behind
Wesley’s back, haven’t you?”

Just hearing Jen verbalize it makes it sound
a million times worse than I thought it was.

“I’m vile. I’m filth,” I whisper. It feels
good to confess it. “I’m—garbage.”

“
No
, sweetie!” Jen pulls me in and
encapsulates me with a heartfelt embrace. I heave into her chest as
tears dislodge that feel like they were years in the making.
“You’re human, that’s all. Well, as human as we can get. You’re
confused. Cooper is nice, and good looking, and strong—and he’s got
great abs’ for God’s sake.”

“You’ve seen his abs?” I pull back to
examine her.

“Yes, he struts around the gym with his
shirt off like he’s allergic to cotton. He’s kind of hard not to
notice. And Wes”—she takes up my hand—“Wes is your stronghold.
You’ve been secretly in love with him for as long as I can
remember.”

I glance down at the eyelet comforter. I’ll
be the last person to tell Jen that just about all her memories of
me are fresh on the scene—a total work of fiction by some evil
mastermind. Nor will I be informing her that I have another sister
named Jen in some alternate reality even though, oddly, Dr.
Flanders was able to prove that this one, right here, is
genetically related to me.

“You have to follow your heart, Laken.” She
gives my hand a squeeze.

“And what if my heart doesn’t know what it
wants?”

“It will.” She assures.
Just like my
heart knows it wants Blaine
.

I groan inwardly at her silent
proclamation.

Sometimes we don’t know what’s good for
us.

Which one is good for me—Wes or Coop?

My heart says both. And I have a feeling,
just like Jen, my heart is about to lead me down a path of total
destruction.

The next day, in the desperate hours of the
evening while Wes and I try to entertain ourselves in the library,
I get a text from Coop.

Wes points to my phone spinning on the
marble counter.

I’m so freaking stupid I left it out in
plain sight, after I took off my jacket.

I boldly hold it out in front of the two of
us as if I have nothing to hide. Even though Coop and me went
through an entire litany of things that we need to do in order to
protect our plan, cell phones and their myriad of uses were never
even an afterthought.

Results are in.

Shit.

I glance up at Wes. “I guess it’s time.
We’ll know if Hattie is a human or a Fem in just a few
minutes.”

I text him back.
What is it?

Come over. I can pick you up.

Wes frowns as he peers at Coop’s prompt
reply.

“Can we go?” Maybe if I include Wes, I can
win back his trust.

He looks around at the dead zone we’re stuck
in for the next few hours.

“I’ll get one of the guys from the back to
cover our shift.” He pulls his cheek to the side and his dimple
flexes. “Do you need to warn Coop that I’m coming?”

“Why would I need to warn him? Are you
planning an assault?” I tease with more hostility than necessary.
“I’ll call Flynn and have him meet us there. He’ll want to know
this, too.”

“Flynn?” His dark brows pitch with
surprise.

“Yes, you don’t think I’ve been running
around alone with Coop this whole time do you? Flynn’s been in on
this since the beginning. Why do you think he’s been so nice to
her?”

Wes opens his mouth then closes it while
looking over my shoulder.

I turn to find Hattie staring me down with
her dead eyes, that soulless expression that says,
I eat mortals
for breakfast
.

Wes gives my shoulder a gentle squeeze.
“I’ll get someone, so we can take off.”

I wait until he moves to the back before
texting Coop.

Got a ride. See you soon
. I’d fill
him in that I’m bringing company, but with my luck Wes will see my
“warning.”

I step over to Hattie. The gloves are
off—I’m through with the niceties.

“What do you want?” I snip.

“Where’s my friend?”

“Monsters like you have friends?” I hold
back a laugh at the thought. I don’t need some simple blood test to
confirm what I already know is true. The Hattie Tobias that stands
before me is no more human than a potted houseplant.

That sterile look in her eyes dissipates,
and I swear she just flickered an emotion—
pain
.

“Flynn,” she says his name and nothing
else.

“I’m ready to roll.” Wes wraps an arm around
my waist, and we head out the door.

It’s time to prove that Hattie the Fake is
nothing but a lying Fem. And, once Wes sees I’m right about this,
he’ll see I’m right about everything else.

I hope.

Cooper

The wind blows the autumn leaves around the
front yard, creating a red and orange tornado. The branches of the
maple scrape against the window like an animal trying to claw its
way inside.

An all too familiar Range Rover pulls into
the driveway, and my blood turns to ice.

“Is Laken here?” Marky calls from the
kitchen. She’s been baking cookies for my “date,” and now Laken
brought someone entirely different to eat them with.

“Yeah, I think so.” My stomach drops like a
stone. I should brace Marky, coach her on what to say and what not
to say—lock her in her bedroom—but Wes and Laken have already
sprung up to the porch, and I open the door without bothering to
wait for them to knock.

Wes huffs a quiet laugh at my overeagerness.
I’m a fool if I think he’s not onto us—that he doesn’t have the
upper hand like he does with everything else. And I hope to God, he
doesn’t have it with Laken.

“Come in,” I say, holding the screen open
for them.

“Smells like heaven,” Wes chirps. “You bake
those for me, cupcake?” He gives a playful wink in my direction,
and the urge to sock him in the nuts goes up tenfold.