Wynter's Horizon (12 page)

“You look … suspicious.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I texted you like a million times last night. What happened to you?”

I searched for my ID card in an effort to hide my face and avoid answering.

“Okay. I found it. Let’s go.” I grabbed my jacket. I could feel a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. Annie and Julia followed me out, watching me closely.

“What?” I asked innocently.

“Why didn’t you answer?” Julia repeated.

“My phone died.” Actually, my morals, but what difference did it make.

She squinted at me suspiciously. I hoped she wasn’t going to call my bluff. “The others are meeting us there,” she offered, still staring at me. I pretended not to notice, and she dropped it.

The line at the dining hall moved quickly. We got our food and found a table with Sophie and Hailey. I busied myself tearing my biscuit apart, hoping that the girls wouldn’t get around to asking me about the rest of my night. Pointless but worth trying.

“So, Wyn, what happened to you?” Sophie asked. I swallowed and looked up. Her blue eyes, the color of faded jeans, stared intently at me.

“Uh, you know—”
Usual stuff, sex in a closet, left high and dry, rescued by a handsome semi-stranger.
I shook my head, taking a deep breath. I might as well admit it now; it was bound to be circulating by dinnertime anyway. “Well, I did not take Jason home to have sex.” Julia narrowed her eyes, waiting. I leaned forward. “We had sex in the storage room of the bar.” I dropped my head on my arms so I didn’t have to see their expressions.

“Wynter!” Julia admonished, always the loudest. I peeked out from my hair. They looked horrified.

“I know, I know. Those two shots did me in, though. It was awful. I shouldn’t have. The worst part was that he fucking left me there and took off.”

“Oh my god! He is such a dog.” Julia’s voice rose in volume.

“Did other people know?” Annie sounded furious.

I shrugged in answer, concentrating on the biscuit I had mashed into a pulp. The blood rushed to my face as I pictured what they must have thought of me. I glanced outside—and saw Jason with Leslie. My stomach dropped. The girls followed my gaze then looked back at me with varying degrees of sympathy. It never took my friends much to rally to my side, even if they didn’t agree with my actions.

“Well…” Sophie started, “YOLO. I fooled around in the chapel library last year with Eric during finals.”

Annie swung her gaze to Sophie. “You only live once. Seriously? This is not the same thing. Nobody ever goes to the chapel library
, except
to fool around. Jim’s is a crowded bar.”

“
I
used to study there but now it reminds me of Eric and I can’t,” Sophie retorted, tipping her chair back in the process. “Lighten up, Annie. Sex in a public place makes for a good game of I Never. Wintry weather in a bar. Epic.” Wintry weather was a term she coined years ago for when I liked a guy. I smiled at her, thankful for the diversion.

“You’re logic is epically screwed.”
Annie answered and then turned back to me. “How did you get home?”

I smiled sheepishly. “Beck.” Sophie came down with a crash that caused the table next to us to turn and look.

“Get out!” Julia exclaimed. I nodded.

“Tell me you did
not
get in a car with a stranger,” Annie reprimanded me.

“No, I did not,
Mom
. He called me a cab, paid for it, and told me to get home safe. Besides, he’s not a stranger,” Julia’s mouth hung open. “He was super nice about it,” I added, trying to stifle a grin.

Galen, having finished breakfast with her boyfriend, Craig, slid into the seat next to Hailey. “What’s going on? I can tell from across the room something’s up. Dish. I want details.”

Julia answered for me. “Wyn had sex in the storage closet at Jim’s with Jason, everyone in the bar knew, then he left her high and dry and that guy Beck gave her money and hailed a cab for her to get home.”

They all looked at me expectantly. “All right, don’t jump to conclusions. It was nothing. He was just being nice.” I stood up in an effort to end the conversation just as Jason and Leslie passed. We always sat at the table near the doors. Centrally located, everyone had to pass by on their way into the room.

“Hello, ladies.” He smirked, oblivious to Annie’s nasty look. Leslie turned away. I wondered if she knew he was sleeping with me. The others were too engrossed in discussing Beck to even notice.

“Are we going?” I sighed. Everyone nodded, grabbing their trays.

Outside, Julia and I walked Annie to the parking lot.

“We should go to Jim’s again,” Julia suggested, trying to sound innocent.

I looked at her sideways, not bothering to respond.

“How about Friday?” Annie asked as she headed to her car with a backward wave and a “See you guys at dinner.”

Julia touched my arm. “Are you okay? You know … with the Jason thing?”

I swallowed, trying not to think of the scene in the bar. “I guess. It was a mistake, as usual.” I shrugged. It hurt like hell, but the only way to deal with it was not to think about it. “He’s a jerk. I know that. I just can’t stop going back,” I admitted, the rest of the words on the tip of my tongue.

“Well, he
is
an ass. I made you promise for a reason, you know.” Just then, Brian, Julia’s boyfriend, called out to us, trotting across the green. They had been dating now for over a year. Over six feet tall, big and burly, Brian was a year younger than us and adored Julia. He joined us on the steps of our dorm, grabbing Julia around the waist and spinning her into him.

“Hello, lover,” he drawled, burying his head in her neck. He was rewarded with a shriek and laughter. After a few seconds, he raised his head and, smiling, dropped his news. “Well, Wyn Wyn, I heard you had quite a night last night.”

Julia and I gasped at the same time, though she recovered first. “Oh my god, how did you find out so quickly?”

Brian chuckled. “You girls should know jocks by now. Word spreads like wildfire. I heard from TJ, who told me and some other guys what Jason had told him about getting lucky with you at Jim’s.” My cheeks burned. Jason’s ability to manipulate me and my inability to say no were a disastrous combination. The fact that fucking smug TJ was the one spreading the story made me feel even more disgusted.

“Did you hear the part where he left her high and dry?” Julia asked sarcastically. “He’s always quite the gentleman.”

Brian shook his head. “I’d just be happy he didn’t tweet about it.” My eyes filled with tears, the embarrassment almost as overwhelming as the nausea. “I’m sorry, Wyn. But you know Jason—he loves that shit. And those guys eat that crap up about how he got laid and left her without a ride home.”

“You’re all jerks, you know that?” Julia added.

I had a lump in my throat the size of a golf ball. I dropped my head trying to hide the tears. “Well, I’m going to go inside now and take a nap and not come out for a long time.”

“Wynter, he’s a jerk and everyone knows it,” Brian offered.

“I know, but I’m the idiot who can’t stay away.” I shook my head. They followed me up the stairs. I left them at Julia’s door and went to my room. I dropped my stuff on my dresser, slipped my jeans off, and crawled under the covers. I could only imagine what the looks would be like at dinner.

Chapter Twenty-Four

The Call

Phineas fiddled with the paper in his hand as he sat watching the fire. The yellow flames searched higher and higher for wood to consume, the tawny hues mixed with the deep, bloody color. He contemplated adding the paper to the fire. He no longer needed it, having memorized the number hours ago, but he liked the feel of the fibrous matter between his fingers. He closed his eyes and let his mind reach out but found nothing. His abilities were limited to the immediate vicinity, and no one he sought was near.

It had been weeks since she had been released. How the powers in charge had let that happen he didn’t know. He contemplated calling them, but he didn’t owe them information. He didn’t owe them anything, not after how they’d treated him. It wasn’t his problem that they had let a lunatic loose on the streets. It was going to be interesting to see what she would do. He remembered the way she’d cursed them when they locked her up. The fury in her beautiful blue eyes. Her stunning face contorted by hatred. They would have been better off flat out killing her, but the higher-ups had disregarded his opinions. He had a feeling they would pay now. He wondered who would be next.

He opened and closed the paper. Punching in the numbers on his phone, he waited.

“Hello.” The voice was rough with an accent he could not quite place. He abhorred the States.

“Good evening.”

“Yeah. Who is this?”

“I got your name and number from a mutual acquaintance. I am inquiring as to whether you might assist me with a slight problem I have.”

“Death, dismemberment, or torture?” Heavens. How crass. Years ago, they had propriety about death, rules to fighting. No longer.

“No. Nothing so invasive. I just want you to watch a few,” he hesitated then added, “persons.”

“Fine. Anything more than that?”

“No. Just watch and report to me what you see.”

“Email me what information you have. I assume you know my fee. I charge on a weekly basis. Wire the money. I’ll start tonight.” The mercenary on the other end gave him an account number.

“I’ll take care of it immediately.” He laid the handset on its cradle. He always had choices. They had made a mistake. Firing him, disbanding his program. He had been a pioneer and a genius. The manipulation of embryos, one step further than cloning. Genetically engineered, just like the new crops scientists created. He had done it and given them a powerful army of gifted soldiers, men and women. Easily blending into society, they had powers that no one else had. They were the future of warfare. Yes, each of his creations had some flaws. But every year he had been able to lessen their severity, produce children with fewer faults. Then things had changed. He had been forced out by men and women who had no vision, suggesting he give up on his “pointless project” and research mad cow disease. Well, their budget cuts were going to fix them now. They had unwittingly unleashed a monster. He would wait and watch. His stomach churned with anticipation. It had been years since he had felt a purpose.

He sipped his wine, glancing at the number written on the paper once more before casting it into the fire. The ocher tongues consumed it, and wispy flakes of gray danced upward. He smiled.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Beck—The Window Ledge

I came down the stairs, pausing before the French doors that opened onto the deck. Quinn sat in his usual position outside, a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other. It was cold, but the night was clear enough to see even the faintest constellations. He didn’t turn as I stepped outside. “You shouldn’t go.” I ignored him.

At eleven thirty on a Tuesday night, I figured I might still catch her awake. The interstate was as busy as ever, but I made it to the campus in forty minutes, parking the Jeep on a side street and climbing the campus fence nimbly. I stuck to the shadows, watching students journey from the library to their dorms.

As I moved closer to the library, I caught her scent. Listening for her telltale murmur, I weeded her out from the cacophony of noise created by so many people out and about. She was on the third floor. The building had fire escapes on its back, old fashioned in today’s world but convenient for me. And thankfully shielded by trees. I swung up and climbed the one closest to her murmur, sliding off onto a window ledge. She was studying in one of the carrels. Every now and then, she raised her head and stared off into space before looking back down. She looked lonely and sad. I couldn’t tear myself away.

“You have a problem, mate.” Quinn’s voice jerked me back to reality, and I almost fell off the ledge. I should have heard him, but I had been too preoccupied watching Wynter. He had been counting on that, judging from his grin.

“Bloody hell, what are you doing here?” He perched on the fire escape a few windows away.

“I was bored. Besides, I wanted to see your insanity at work. How’s the stalking going?”

“I’m not stalking. Just watching.”

“I bet that’s how all stalkers think of it.” I ignored him and turned my attention back to Wynter. She was standing, packing up her books. She pulled something out of her bag, staring at it a moment and then re-tucked it in a pocket and swung her backpack up on one shoulder. She frowned and moved over to the window near the fire escape. Quinn flattened himself against the wall. My heart did a little dive. She peered through the glass, but then Julia called her name and she walked away. Quinn chuckled “She’s quick you know. But not quick enough.”

I jumped down and headed towards my Jeep, disgusted with myself and our carelessness.

He followed behind me. “You really have fallen off the wagon, haven’t you? A few weeks ago, you were giving me the whole ‘I’m not interested in her thing’ and now look at you. You’ve not only unlocked the asylum but thrown in with the patients. What are you going to do? Come back and spy on her all week?”