Resistance (The Variant Series #2) (8 page)

Kenzie ignored her. “Is it because of what he is?”

Cassie frowned. “No.”

“You sure about that?”

“It’s not about
what
he is,” said Cassie, struggling to put into words the fears that were currently holding her back. “It’s about all that comes with it. It’s the life you guys lead. And don’t lie—you
know
that Aiden is just as much of an adrenaline junkie as Declan is, he just hides it better. And I… I don’t know.”

Memories of being stuffed into the trunk of her own car and then being held hostage by a madman—of Aiden’s burning apartment and the suffocating smoke that filled her lungs—fought their way to the surface.

Cassie closed her eyes.

Aiden had actually
grinned
while he’d faced down the intruder that night, countering each of the fiery attacks with a smile on his face, as though he’d been itching for a fight and someone had finally been kind enough to give him one.

As much as he’d bitched about the loss of his apartment later, it was obvious he’d enjoyed the challenge of going toe-to-toe with a fire wielder.

“If we ever started dating, I would spend the entire time we were apart worrying about him,” she continued. “And I’d spend the entire time we were
together
worried about what dangers were waiting for us around the next corner. This world of yours… I mean, it’s
incredible
, but it’s also scary as hell.”

On the other end of the line, Kenzie had fallen silent.

“Still there?”

When Kenzie finally spoke, she sounded bemused. “Yeah, I’m here. I’m just trying to make sense of everything you said. I mean, you do realize you’re already a
part
of our world, right? These things you’re so worried about… How is it any different than what you’re already going through with Alex? And how does avoiding
Aiden
change any of that? I mean, you’re already all-in, right? So why
not
take the chance and see where it goes?”

“Yeah, why not?” asked a new voice on the line.

Cassie cringed.

“
Brian!
” Kenzie roared. “Hang up that phone
right now
before I hunt you down and give you the mother of all noogies!”

“Oh, come
on
,” the ten-year-old grumbled. “It’s not my fault dad won’t let me have a cell phone. I need to make a call! And I can’t help it if I pick up the
house
phone
—which is shared by
everyone
—and overhear a conversation already in progress.”

“Hang up, Brian,” Kenzie repeated.

The boy huffed into the receiver. “Fine. But hurry up, would you? I really
do
need to make a call!”

A quiet click sounded on the line.

“He doesn’t have a cell?” asked Cassie, surprised.

Even Danny and Runt had phones. They were dilapidated Nokia’s that were only good for making calls and playing the occasional black and white game of
Snake
, but still. They had them.

Kenzie sighed. “The boss is old school like that. Doesn’t think Brian’s old enough to need one… Now. Are you going to call Aiden? Or do I need to keep punching holes in your argument?”

Cassie smiled. “I’ll think about it. Call me if you hear anything from Alex?”

“Sure thing,” said Kenzie. “Now go call my idiot cousin.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said. “Night, Red.”

Cassie ended the call and stared down at her cell phone. To call, or not to call?

After a brief argument with her nerves, she settled on a compromise.

God bless text messages.

“Are… you… free,” Cassie spoke aloud as she typed, “Friday… night?”

It took a few minutes, but Aiden eventually replied to her text.

F
OR YOU,
C
ASS,
I
’LL CLEAR MY SCHEDULE.
D
OES THIS MEAN
I
OWE
K
ENZIE A NEW PHONE AND
L
ORD
B
YRON A THANK-YOU
?

By the time their conversation wound down later that night, Cassie’s house had long since grown quiet—and so had that annoying voice of
doubt
that had hijacked her thoughts in the last two weeks.

Kenzie was right.

Cassie was already all-in.

It was time she made the most of it.

— 7 —

W
ell this was awkward.

“Alex?”

The whisper was soft against her cheek.

“Yeah, Decks?” Alex shifted beside Declan, trying to make herself smaller in the cramped confines of the closet as she fought back a sudden, mutinous urge to relax against him.

There were plenty of very good reasons not to do that, she was certain. If only she could remember what they were.

“You’re standing on my foot.”

“Oh! Right. Sorry.”

If pressed, Alex could now name at least half a dozen girls who would give their right arm just to be in her shoes. And it was all because she—Alex Parker, social outcast extraordinaire—was hiding out in a broom closet with the Hot New Guy.

A really
tiny
broom closet.

It had taken less than three days for the scruffy jerk to inexplicably become the most sought after guy in their junior class.

And, okay.

Maybe it
was
pretty easy to explain.

Declan radiated
bad boy
in the same way Alex’s ex-boyfriend Connor radiated
social-elite football quarterback
. And bad boy trumped quarterback, any day.

Not that Declan’s newfound popularity really mattered to
him. If anything, it made him resent his latest assignment that much more.

After a full week of mind-numbing lectures meant to help Alex and her fellow students prepare for their upcoming finals, it had become clear that Declan was less than thrilled with his new job as Alex’s full-time babysitter.

Oh, no.

Right.

Sorry.

Alex’s full-time
bodyguard
.

Declan got tetchy anytime someone used the other B-word to describe what he’d been reduced to doing each weekday between the hours of seven and three.

To be honest, Alex wasn’t too thrilled about his new assignment, either. Having Declan trail after her eight hours a day like some perpetually obnoxious shadow was about to drive her off the deep end.

His efforts to help her survive her first day back at Bay View left Alex hoping that maybe—just
maybe
—she and Declan were moving toward something that resembled a real friendship. Instead, the second he walked through Bay View High’s front doors the following morning, he’d gone right back to being the same incorrigible ass that he’d been when they’d first met.

At this point, she could hardly decide whether she found the disaffected bad boy persona he kept up
amusing
, or if she’d much prefer to punch him in the face.

Right now it was a toss-up.

In spite of Declan’s initial efforts to alienate himself, his surly attitude and antisocial tendencies seemed to be having the opposite effect on the ladies of Bay View High.

Then again, being a six-foot tall, sandy-haired hottie with an athletic build and a perpetual five o’clock shadow probably hadn’t helped matters. His attempts to fly under the radar were a spectacular failure.

As of yesterday morning, Declan had stopped trying to put them off. Now, when a girl showed an interest in him—instead of just ignoring them like he’d done for the first three days—he laid on the charm.

Her female classmates were eating it up with a spoon. Alex, on the other hand, was ready to scream. All the attention he received today had made Declan even more intolerable than usual.

And since the Agency had ordered that Alex not be out of Declan’s sight when she was on Bay View High’s campus, she had a front row seat for all of it.

Alex shifted again, straining her ears for sounds of movement on the other side of the door.

Nothing yet.

Not for the first time that day, Alex found herself wondering exactly how she’d managed to get herself into such a precarious position.

The first time she’d asked herself that question, it was 8
A.M
. in the office of Bay View High’s soft-spoken, white-haired guidance counselor as he dangled a printout of her current grades between two bony fingers.

“You’ve gone from straight A’s to failing marks in two of your classes, Ms. Parker. And I’ve been told that if you don’t receive B’s on both your final project and your final exam for your AP chemistry class that you’ll be assigned summer school. I have to ask—has something happened? Something at home, perhaps? If there’s something you want to get off your chest… something you’d like to talk about… I
am
here to listen.”

For one insane moment, Alex considered telling him the truth.

That it wasn’t
her
fault her grades had taken a nosedive. Blowing up a computer lab and being turned into a social pariah just had that affect on a girl.

She’d also felt an urge to inform him that it was only going to get worse from here on out, now that she knew what was
really
happening to her.

She could hardly be expected to focus on the litany of dead guys and historical events in her AP World History textbook, when there were much more pressing matters for her to worry about in the
present
.

Between Masterson, the Agency, and her barely controlled abilities, Alex found focusing on homework a tad difficult.

And don’t
even
get her started on her flaming wreck of a love life.

She thought about telling Mr. Whitley all of that. Instead, she’d hastily promised to work hard on her upcoming chem project and made her escape before he could ask her any more questions.

Now if only she could escape from
this
situation as easily.

Honestly. Could Declan have picked a more uncomfortable hiding place?

His familiar scent washed over her as they struggled to catch their breath, that swirling mix of ashes and cinnamon and something warmer. Something
Declan
.

He was staring down at her, studying the lines of her face in the shadows.

Footsteps echoed in the hallway on the other side of the door.

They didn’t have much time.

“Changed your mind yet?” whispered Declan.

She looked away.

If there was ever a time to go back on her resolution, it was now. One touch from Declan and they’d be home free.

All Alex had to do was say yes.

“No,” she said.

Declan sighed, reaching for the door handle. “Then
run
, Lex. And whatever you do—whatever you
hear
—don’t stop running.”

With that, Declan stepped out of the broom closet and back into the glaring florescent light of the corridor. He slammed the door shut behind him before she could object.

“Looking for me?”

Alex could hear Declan’s grin, even if she couldn’t see it.

“Where is she, O’Connell?” asked a familiar voice.

There was a shuffle of footsteps as Declan inched his way further down the hall, heading toward Bay View High’s commons area at the center of campus.

“Who? Alex?” asked Declan. “How should I know? She left me hanging the first chance she got. She ran.”

“And why don’t I believe that?” The voice grew louder as the speaker approached the door.

Alex held her breath, hand frozen in place, hovering an inch above the doorknob.

“Because you have trust issues?” offered Declan. “And anyway, it doesn’t matter. She’s not the one you want.”

“Oh?”

The smile was back in Declan’s voice. “I’m the one you
really
want.”

The footsteps passed by the closet door and continued on slowly down the hall, matching Declan’s sluggish pace in an attempt to keep him from bolting.

“
You’ve
got it, then? Not Alex?”

“Joke’s on her,” said Declan. “I stole it back just before she ditched me.”

Mustering her courage, Alex turned the doorknob—just as a flash of violet light made its way through the gaps of the doorframe, briefly illuminating her hiding place. She opened the door a small crack and peered outside.

Standing in an otherwise empty hallway, arms akimbo and a scowl on her face, was Cassie.

“Dammit, Decks!” Cassie shouted, breaking into a run. “
That’s cheating
!”

Declan’s laughter rang out from the direction of the commons area.

“Catch me if you can, blondie!”

Cassie’s pounding footsteps disappeared down the hall and Alex crept out of her hiding place.

That was close.

This was their final match of the night. One more win and she and Declan walked off with the prize.

But first she needed to make it to the finish line. And unlike Declan, Alex couldn’t just zap herself there. She’d have to cover the remaining distance the old fashioned way—on foot.

The cell phone in her pocket chimed.

Startled, she stumbled to a halt, digging it out of the back pocket of her jeans and checking the screen.

Alex swallowed a groan as she read the text.

WHERE R U? GROUP STARTS IN 5.

The study group! Crap!

The text was from Sara Morales, one of the few people at Bay View High who still condescended to speak with Alex on a semi-regular basis. With Sara’s 4.0 GPA and position as top student in their class, she rarely took notice of the goings-on pertaining to Bay View’s social scene. To Sara, Alex was just another student.

And that was just fine by Alex.

Tonight’s study group was for the chemistry class Alex was in imminent danger of flunking. If she wanted to make heads or tails of the final project that was due the following Friday, then she really couldn’t afford to miss it.

Putting her phone on silent and slipping it back into her pocket, Alex broke into a run, the locker-lined hallways rushing past her in a grayish blur.