Resistance (The Variant Series #2) (18 page)

With that, Alex sent the tree-branch-turned-missile spiraling back toward Nate.

He raised a hand to stop it—and then something unexpected happened.

Instead of countering her attack,
Nate dove out of the way
.

“Whoa,” said Kenzie, before letting out a whoop of delight and hollering, “Yes!”

“That’s a first,” said Aiden, laughing, then he called out loud enough for Nathaniel to hear him across the field. “Looks like someone’s finally met his match!”

Nate barked a laugh at Aiden’s comment and got slowly to his feet, dusting himself off. “Don’t cry, Aiden,” he said. “I know how badly you wanted it to be
you
.”

“What just happened?” Alex called out. “Why didn’t you just deflect the branch?”

He was grinning as he walked across the field. “Because I
couldn’t
, Alex,” he said. “The force you were exerting on it was too strong for me to counter.”

Wait.

What
?

“That’s not possible.” Alex shook her head. “You’ve got to be… What? At least twice as strong as me?”

“No, Alex,” he said. “I’m not.”

She furrowed a brow.

“I never have been.” Nate closed the gap between them, reached out and brushed some of the dirt from Alex’s shoulders. “It just seemed that way, because you hadn’t been tapping into your full power. At least, not until just now.”

“Told ya’ so!” chimed Kenzie, reaching out to pluck a twig from Alex’s hair.

Alex was more powerful than Nate?

Sure, Kenzie said as much the week before, but Alex hadn’t actually
believed
her. How could her replicated ability be more powerful than the original? It didn’t make sense.

With the other abilities, she’d just assumed that what she could do was always on par with everyone else, and that she simply lacked the experience necessary to fully rein in her borrowed gifts.

Did she have it wrong? Was her lack of restraint really a symptom of the fact that she had
more
to control?

Kenzie was practically vibrating with excitement. “You have no idea how happy I am that I was here to witness that. I only wish I’d caught it on camera!”

Alex shrugged, feeling sheepish. “So I forced Nate to dodge a branch,” she said. “What’s the big deal?”

Nate shook his head, smiling. “The ‘big deal’ is that no one’s ever bested me in a one-on-one match involving abilities before. Any time powers are allowed… Well…”

“He always wins,” said Kenzie. “Every. Damn. Time. Nate’s never lost against someone in a match with abilities before. You, Alex Parker, just bested the
best.
”

Nathaniel had never been outmatched before?

“There are three very important things we should take from this,” said Aiden, ticking them off on his fingers as he spoke. “
One
, Nate can be beaten! Which pretty much means it’s open season on Palladino from here to eternity, because there is
blood in the water
, my friends. I mean, he just got his ass whooped. And by a pretty girl, no less!
”

Kenzie smiled wide. “And wasn’t it a thing of beauty?”

Alex couldn’t hold back a laugh at the expression on Nathaniel’s face when he stepped closer and slung an arm around her shoulders. It was an adorable mixture of embarrassment, exasperation, amusement… and pride.

He actually seemed happy that Alex had been the one to best him.

“
Two
,” Aiden continued, “And this one’s important, because it could save your life one day—don’t throw shit at Alex unless you want to get pummeled by the exact object you just chucked at her head.”

“Noted!” said Kenzie.

“And
three
,” said Aiden. “Never,
ever
, under any circumstances,
piss her off
.”

“Hmm,” said Kenzie. “Declan’s probably going to have a hard time with that last one.”

Aiden laughed his agreement. “Kid should probably invest in a better helmet.”

“Maybe some football padding, too,” said Kenzie.

Smiling, Alex shook her head. “You guys are nuts. What are you doing here, anyway? Thought you were going to train back at the house tonight.”

“Wanted to see how you were faring with the TK thing,” said Kenzie.

“
And
we figured while we were here, we would get in a quick match.” Aiden stood up a little straighter. “I’ve come to defend my title as champion. Kenzie, meanwhile, is here to suffer a rather embarrassing beat-down.”

Kenzie rolled her eyes. “Whatever, coz. I’m totally ready for you this time.”

“Oh, yeah? Then let’s see what you got,
Short Round
.”

“Bring it,
Sasquatch
.”

The two of them were still trading insults as they moved off to find an area of the field not covered with debris. She and Nate did a pretty fantastic job of trashing it over the course of the last two hours.

Figuring she should probably do something to remedy that, Alex set about levitating the larger branches and moving them to the outskirts of the field with small movements of her hand.

Nathaniel dropped his arm from Alex’s shoulders and looked her over with a frown. He carefully brushed a smudge of dirt from her upper arm, revealing a dark purple welt underneath.

He cursed.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “You know, I was only joking about bruises earlier. I didn’t intend for you to actually be injured by anything. You should have told me the volleys were hurting you, Lex. I would have let up.”

Alex shook her head. “It’s okay,” she said, dismissing his concern. “They really didn’t hurt, I just bruise easy. Besides, I needed some motivation to access the ability. Especially there at the beginning.”

And it was true. There was nothing quite like being beaned with a
rock
, even at half-speed, to trigger a reaction from her borrowed abilities.

Kenzie and Aiden found a spot at the center of the field and began a sparring match of their own.

Aiden bobbed and swerved like a drunken prize-fighter, kept on the defensive while Kenzie bombarded him with a swift array of jabs and kicks directed at his torso.

Alex might not have been able to name their moves, but she did know this much—either one of them could probably knock her senseless with a minimal amount of effort.

And that reminded her… Nathaniel still hadn’t gotten around to the self-defense portion of her lesson, yet.

Judging from his expression, he was still feeling guilty over having used too much force.

“Yeah, well,” he said. “It might not have hurt, but it still left you with bruises, so I’m apologizing anyway.”

“I told you it’s fine,” she said, still watching Kenzie and Aiden.

“No, it’s really not.” He shifted so that he was standing beside her, shoulder-to-shoulder, as they watched the ongoing match. “I don’t ever want to hurt you, Alex. Accidentally, or otherwise.”

“It’s okay, Nate. I trust you.”

The comment caused Nathaniel to flinch, though he tried to hide it by taking a few steps forward and turning to face her.

He held out a hand and smiled. “So, Alex. Ready for round two?”

— 15 —

“M
iss Parker
?”

Alex’s elbow slid wildly across the top of her desk. She managed to stop herself just short of faceplanting onto the lacquered wood.

The half of her chemistry class still awake stared at her expectantly. Judging from the expression on Mr. Jones’ face, they were waiting for her reply.

Her reply to what? What was the question?

For the last ten minutes, Alex had been analyzing the patterns in the linoleum beneath her feet and hadn’t heard a word of Jones’ pre-exam lecture.

Her eyes skimmed the whiteboard. Nothing that needed to be solved, just notes on how to balance a complicated equation.

“Um.”

“Yes, Miss Parker?” prompted Mr. Jones.

A light touch and a shiver of electricity cascaded through the base of Alex’s neck, just beneath her ponytail.

Sodium, Alex.
Declan’s voice in her head was oddly monotone.
Just say, “sodium.”

“Sodium,” she repeated.

“That’s right.” Mr. Jones turned his back to the class and began scribbling on the whiteboard once more. “And
why
is it important that the pure metal form of sodium be kept under oil or kerosene? Mr. Newark?”

Silence from Mr. Newark.

“Come on, guys.” Mr. Jones pinched the bridge of his nose. “We learned about this in the very first week of class. I realize you’ve all slept since then, but that AP exam this weekend is going to expect you to remember.”

The attention no longer focused on Alex, she turned slightly in her seat and mouthed the words,
“thank-you
” to Declan where he sat in the desk behind hers.

He shrugged.

Alex fought back a sigh.

He’d been like this for days, now. Distant. Disinterested…
Declan
.

Back to his old self.

But
why
? What had changed? Had she done something?

Alex switched her focus toward keeping out the myriad voices pressing against the barrier around her thoughts.

A parting hug from Kenzie the night before left Alex with Red’s powers—and a serious inability to concentrate on anything except keeping her walls up and her mind empty.

The ability transfer hadn’t been an accident. Alex did it intentionally.

At the time, it had seemed like an excellent idea. She’d more than recovered from her breakdown the Friday before, and Masterson was most likely waiting in the wings to see how she would proceed.

Alex was currently being forced to keep track of three separate abilities at one time—jumping, telekinesis, and now telepathy. Three powers ought to be enough to satisfy him, at least for the time being.

Besides. It wasn’t just Masterson she had to worry about, now.

In a few weeks she’d be taking the most important test of her life. If she passed, the Agency would allow her to remain free.

But if she failed…

Her train of thought was derailed once more by the increasing volume of the voices in her head. The town of Bay View was significantly more populated than the area of the Adirondacks where the Grayson cabin was located and where Alex last attempted to maintain her telepathic ability.

Alex reinforced the mental barrier that blocked out the sea of voices drifting through the ether around her, allowing only one of the thought signatures to sneak through.

With her walls firmly in place, Declan had needed to touch her to get his initial message across. Now that she had adjusted her defenses enough to listen to him, she could hear Declan clearly, without the physical contact.

What’s with the space cadet act
? Declan asked.

He was one to talk.

It was Alex’s turn to shrug.

It’s kind of loud in here
, she projected.

Their wordless interaction was attracting the attention of nearby students. Alex turned back around in her seat, returning her gaze to the front of the classroom.

Loud
? Declan repeated.

I’m having to focus more on keeping the voices out than I’d anticipated.

Even after reinforcing the barricade, a low hum still resounded in the back of her thoughts.

It was a little like apartment living. When your next-door neighbor throws a raging kegger, you might not be able to make out the lyrics of the song playing on the radio, but you can definitely feel the bass.

Alex was constantly aware of each and every mind within range of her powers, and tuning them out entirely took no small amount of effort.

Ah,
thought Declan.
I wondered.

Something cold and damp touched her bare shoulder. Alex jerked slightly, turning in her seat to identify the object.

Declan was holding out the unopened can of soda he’d bought during passing period.

She accepted it with a puzzled expression.

Thanks?
The word was sent to Declan laced with her confusion.

He raised an eyebrow.
Haven’t you ever wondered why Kenzie drinks so much coffee?

“Oh,
caffeine
!” Alex said aloud. “Smart.”

Caffeine meant concentration. Any student that had ever pulled an all-nighter knew that much.

“What was that, Miss Parker?”

“Uh.” Alex whipped back around in her seat. “I was just… Just thinking that I’d be needing quite a lot of caffeine for tonight’s Chemistry study session.”

Mr. Jones—as well as the rest of the class—was staring at Alex the same way they would at a schizo who’d forgotten to take their meds.

Well done, Lex
, projected Declan.
No one suspects a thing.

“Right,” Mr. Jones drawled. “As I was saying, sodium is considered a
reactive
metal…”

Ready for tonight?
asked Declan.

She paused in surprise. This was the most he’d said to her all day.

Of course I’m ready
, she replied.

After three days of bailing on sessions, Declan was now being forced by Grayson to take the lead in Alex’s training that night, so that she could fine-tune her jumping ability.

Under any other circumstances, she’d probably be thinking about their upcoming session non-stop. Instead, Alex was far too preoccupied with worrying about the
final presentation
she had to give in 3D-Art next period.

Delivering a speech to a class of bored high schoolers was hard enough. Add Jessica and Marcie to the audience—as well as a slew of abilities that were known to spiral out of control any time Alex was stressed—and you had a recipe for disaster.

Burying that thought, Alex tuned back into Jones’ lecture. He’d digressed, humoring Mr. Newark’s question about what happens when you fill a film canister half full of water, drop in an Alka-Seltzer tablet, and then replace the cap.