Red Handed (16 page)

Fine. “He was four years older than me. I met him in rehab, but he hadn't been ready to stop using. I almost let him convince me to fly again—just one more. One more. Yeah, right.”

Mom said I went for older boys because I was looking for a father figure. Anything to make up for the way my dad had abandoned us. But surely I was smarter now. Wiser.

That's why I'm crushing on Ryan, huh? Because I'm smarter?

“You didn't use, though,” he said, “and that's what's important.”

“Not dating losers is equally important, but I ignored that little bit of wisdom.”

Ryan chuckled. We hit the end of the hallway and turned around, heading back to the party. “What's been your favorite part of camp so far?”

Honestly? “Your class.” The demonstration, to be precise.

“You sucking up to the teacher?”

“If I wanted to suck up to the teacher, I wouldn't have punched him in the face.”

His grin widened. “True.”

Though we'd slowed our steps, we reached the doors all too soon. I wanted to go again, but he said, “Phoenix,” and stopped. Looked at me. “You still unsure about staying?”

I gazed down at my boots. “I'd like to stay, but I feel like everyone's just waiting to kick me out.” I couldn't help myself; I moved closer to him. He didn't back away. So badly I wanted to kiss him, and I didn't care about the rules. I just wanted his tongue in my mouth.

But as we looked at each other, a trio of boys laughingly stumbled from the room. Ryan and I jumped guiltily apart. Would he have let me? If we hadn't been interrupted, would he have let me kiss him?

“If you're going to get kicked out, it's always better to go down fighting,” he said, backing away. “It's better to be the one they regret and miss and wonder about than the one they're confident in losing.”

“Maybe.”

“Definitely.”

Disappointment rocked me that he was leaving. “See you around.” He nodded, spun on his heel, and strode off.

“Better to go down fighting,” he'd said. The thought of giving it my all and still failing was frightening. That would be more proof that I was a loser.

Sighing, I shoved open the door and stepped back into the room. The music was just as loud and grinding, and my friends had remained where I'd left them. They smiled as I rejoined them.

“Hey, Phoenix,” a hard voice suddenly said.

“Yes.” I sent my gaze to the speaker. She stood to my left. She was a pretty girl with dark hair, dark eyes. Pissed expression. Allison Stone. Ryan's sister.

“I heard you took Ryan down yesterday,” she said. Her gaze sparkled with challenge.

“Yeah. So?” She'd made her dislike of me clear during my interview, so I wasn't going to waste my time being nice to her. “What are you doing at a party for trainees?”

She grinned with relish. “I'm the chaperone.”

Six of her friends lined up beside her. They crossed their arms over their chests one after the other. “So,” Allison said with a smug edge, “I think you think you're better than us.”

“Think? Good one.” Kitten moved to my side. She studied her elongated claws and purred low in her throat. “I don't know where you get your info, but you're wrong. She doesn't think it; she knows it.
We
know it.”

Fury blazed over Allison's features. “Why don't you prove it, then, weakling?” She reached out and pushed me.

I stumbled backward a few steps. When I righted, I ran my tongue over my teeth.
Oh, no, no, no
. We weren't going to play this game. There would be no pushing me around. But fighting with her wasn't an option. It was against the rules. I could be kicked out. She wouldn't. Boss was her dad. I bet Allison could murder me and not get in trouble. Still.

If I let her intimidate me now, she would continue to do so. Her friends, too. I'd seen it a thousand times, and I admit, I'd done it to others. I had to prove myself now or suffer for the rest of the year.

I had to try to make her back down. But could I do it without breaking a single rule?

“You touch me again,” I said, eyes narrowed, lips pulled tight, “and I'll make you sorry.”

Her mouth curled in a smug smile. Smug, smug, smug. Everything about her was smug. “That's highly doubtful. I've had nearly twelve months of training. I can take little girls like you and snap your necks.”

I closed every inch of space between us. Our noses touched. Her breath blended with mine. Around me I heard conversations taper to quiet. My heartbeat quickened. I knew I was outmatched. I'd seen her fighting skills when she'd battled the Sybilins. And I knew I'd gotten lucky when I overpowered Ryan yesterday. He hadn't expected me to act. Allison, though, expected it. Wanted it.

But again, I couldn't back down, couldn't show any hint of fear.

I raised my chin. “Go ahead and try it. I'll do to you what I did to that Sybilin: punch your face into powder.”

A little color drained from her face. Good. She remembered that I, too, had some skills, raw though they were. But she didn't back down, either. “All you are is a druggie. A burned-out, stupid flyer.”

I heard several people gasp. My jaw clenched. How dare she tell them about my past. How dare she! That was privileged information. Too late to keep it quiet now. “I'm a
former
flyer who isn't afraid of you.”

“You don't deserve to be here, former user or not. You're not good enough.”

“Your daddy thought differently.” I paused, forced an evil smile. “Is that why
you're
here? Did Daddy pull some strings?”

Her eyes darkened, and I saw her decision to attack solidify there. I owed the observation to Le'Ace. Because of her, I was learning to watch and absorb details that I had never noticed before.

Allison swung at me, her open palm flying toward my nose. She meant to slam the cartilage into my brain. Bitch. Ryan had showed me this move in class—and exactly what to do. Rather than shoulder her in the stomach, however, I ducked and kicked out my leg, bouncing her ankles together and sending her toppling to the ground.

She gasped in shock, in disbelief, but was back on her feet before I could blink. A moment later, she fisted me in the cheek. This time, I didn't have time to dodge. At contact, my head whipped to the side. Pain exploded in my head.

Adrenaline swam through me, thick and potent, thankfully drowning all hint of pain. In seconds, I was so high on it, I felt stronger than ever before. Invincible. Powerful.

I ducked as she swung again and punched her in the stomach. The fight was on now. Air whooshed from her mouth. She bent over, jerking me down with her. Then we were on the ground, rolling, rolling, until she was on top of me. Using all my newfound strength, I bucked her off, pinned her down, and punched her in the face—just as I'd promised.

“Bitch,” she growled, and we rolled for a second time. She knifed her pointed fingers toward my throat. “My brother is not for you!”

I managed to grip her wrist before contact, stopping her momentum. “I never said he was.” I arched my back and bucked again, dislodging her just enough to twist one of my legs up and kick toward her stomach.

Before I made contact, someone caught me from behind in an iron-clad grip. “Stop! What the hell do you think you're doing?”

Ryan.

His voice echoed in my ears. I whipped to face him just as Allison pounded forward. She leapt into the air, spun, and meant to knock me in the face with her foot. She would have done it, too, but before I knew what he was doing, Ryan twisted us and took the blow himself.

Allison fell to the ground, gasping, “Ryan! Ryan, I'm sorry.” Contrite, she rushed to his side.

Everyone paused and watched what was going on between brother and sister. And me, the outsider. Who knows what they were thinking.
I
didn't know what to think.

Fury contorting his face, Ryan pointed a finger in Allison's face. “You know better, Al. You know better than to act this way.” His lip was bleeding, already swelling. “Go see Boss. He's waiting for you in his office.”

She hesitated, paled. Her expression was tortured as she looked from Ryan to me, me to Ryan.

“Go!” he commanded harshly.

She spun and fled from the room.

“You,” he said, grabbing hold of me once more. “Come with me.” Without waiting for my reply, he tugged me into the hall, following the same path Allison had taken.

I could feel the anger radiating from him. There was something else, though, something I couldn't name that drifted beneath the negative emotion. I tossed a helpless glance over my shoulder and connected with Kitten's gaze. One of her eyes was already black and she was panting, but she smiled at me, a contented cat.

A set of doors closed, blocking out her image.

Ryan stopped, turned on me, and pointed a finger in my face, just as he'd done to his sister. “What the hell was that about?”

I crossed my arms over my chest and cast my gaze throughout our surroundings. We were in the hall, and we were alone. “Ask Allison,” I said. “
She
came to
me
looking for trouble.”

He arched a brow, not pacified in the least. “My sister has never attacked another trainee before. Did you provoke her?”

Scowling, I slapped at his finger. A few minutes ago, he'd been super nice to me, so his accusation hurt all the more. “I. Did. Nothing. So don't you dare try to blame this on me.”

He grabbed my wrist. I thought he meant to jerk me forward and scream in my face for daring to hit him, but he didn't. He held onto me, stared at the length of my arm. Bit by bit, his expression softened. “You have talent, Phoenix. I don't want to see it wasted.”

My shoulders sagged, the fire of my anger dying a quick death. Our gazes met, exactly as they had only a short while ago. A shiver of awareness stole over me. I drank in his appeal. I could feel his body heat. His fingers were calloused and created a dizzying friction against my skin.

In the next instant, he released me and stepped away. He tangled a hand in his dark hair. “What are you doing to me?”

My jaw dropped in astonishment. “Me? I'm not doing anything.”
Except wanting you
, I added silently. I still wanted him to kiss me. The need was so strong that I suddenly didn't care about being kicked out. About getting in trouble and having my memory wiped.

“Not doing anything—ha!” He snorted. Once again, he closed the distance between us.

Yes
, I thought. Closer…closer…

His clean, pine scent wafted around me. “You're all I can think about anymore,” he whispered in my ear. “I look for you in the halls. I'm constantly wondering what you're doing and who you're doing it with. Why do you think I was looking in on the party? I was hoping you'd catch a glimpse of me and come out. I can't get you out of my mind, even though you're forbidden.”

I gulped. So, he felt it, too, then. The hum of attraction. The need. I opened my mouth to reply, to tell him how I felt, but he shook his head.

“Don't say a damn word,” he said in that whisper. “If I hear that you want me, too, I'll lose control.” He pushed out a shaky breath, and it fanned my lobe. “Boss watched your fight. He watches and sees everything because there are cameras everywhere. Even here.”

I paled.

“Come on,” Ryan said, loudly this time. “Boss wants to see you and Allison.”

I followed behind him, staring at his back. His words replayed through my mind. Not that words that should have, but the ones that shouldn't have: You're all I can think about anymore.

Ryan wanted me. Ryan really wanted me!

A wonderful and terrible discovery. For a few, needy seconds, I had thought I could give up A.I.R. for a single kiss from him. Lucid now, I knew that wasn't true. I couldn't. I wouldn't.

I belonged here. I didn't want to leave, no matter what I had to do to remain.

The knowledge swam inside me as if a switch had been thrown. I admitted it now—now that I'd broken a rule and being kicked out was more a possibility than ever. A bitter laugh escaped me. What a time to realize the truth. This camp
was
worth fighting with all my might to stay.

I had purpose here. I had goals. Becoming an A.I.R. agent was forever; protecting innocents was honorable. There was no better career choice for me.
I can't lose this
.

At the moment, camp was all I had.

I remained silent while Ryan led me through the halls. Soon I found myself seated across from Allison and facing the silver-haired Boss, who sat behind a large desk. He wore those same black glasses. The entire wall behind him was sectioned into different holoscreens, displaying different scenes. The party. All the classrooms, which were currently empty. The hallways. Kids who were striding to and from their rooms.