Vital Found (The Evelyn Maynard Trilogy Book 2) Page 3

  He opened a bottle of sparkling water, the top making a distinctive hiss, and looked between us before taking a deep drink.

  “Ah!” Keeping his eyes locked on us, he sighed exaggeratedly before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, which, when it came away, revealed a crooked grin. He knew exactly what he was doing. He wouldn’t even talk to me, let alone touch me in the way he had in Tyler’s study, but he was determined none of the rest of my Bond would either.

  Ethan dropped his arms and stepped away, sighing. He shot Alec a dirty look and got back to cooking.

  Grinding my teeth, I jumped off the island and walked toward him. His eyes tracked me as he raised the bottle back to his lips, the eyebrow with the scar lifting slightly.

  I stopped next to him and leaned in. “You are such a cockblocker.” I spoke low, but my voice carried in the quiet kitchen.

  His eyes widened, and he choked on his sip of mineral water, some of the liquid spurting past his lips and dripping down his tattooed chest.

  It took physical effort to stop my eyes from following the droplets as they made their way down. I knew what it felt like to run my hands down that chest . . . But I refused to give him the satisfaction. I made myself look away and left the room.

  Ethan’s booming laugh echoed behind me, and I finally let a grin cross my face. Alec had tried to get to me, and he may have succeeded, but I’d gotten to him too.

  Tyler and I had ended up skipping our Light transfer because he’d gotten tied up with work, and I woke up feeling a little itchy around the forearms.

  The time between how often I needed Light transfers was getting longer the more I practiced mindfulness and control of the flow, but it still got away from me sometimes. The state Alec was in when I found him by the pool probably had something to do with it; the Light was pushing into me in an effort to get to him.

  I went for a run with Ethan to try to work some of it off, careful not to touch him. When the Light was uncontrolled like that, the transfer could be sudden and violent, and that’s when he would have to practice perfect control not to accidentally set something on fire.

  After the run, which helped only slightly, I grabbed a quick breakfast and went searching for Tyler. I ran through the obvious areas of the house first—kitchen, living room, patio, even knocking on his bedroom door—before dragging my feet downstairs to his study.

  The door was ajar, and I nudged it open while rapping on the frame. My feet stayed firmly planted on the outside of the room.

  “Hey, got a minute?”

  “Hey, Eve.” He looked up from the pile of folders and newspapers on his desk before dropping his gaze again. “What’s up?”

  “We never got around to doing that transfer yesterday.”

  “Oh, yeah. The debrief with Alec went longer than I thought it would.” At the mention of his name, we both looked over to the leather couch in the corner—the spot where he had lifted me to the highest peak of pleasure and then torn me down to the lowest point in the space of five minutes.

  “I’ll put the TV in the living room on.” With one last glare at the couch, I left to wait for him.

  He joined me after only a few minutes. “One of you is eventually going to have to tell us what happened on the night of the invasion.” He sighed but sounded resigned. He knew I wouldn’t tell him anything.

  “Let’s just focus, OK?”

  He turned to face me, but I kept my eyes glued to the TV as he gently extracted the remote from my fingers and flipped to CNN. When he extended his hand, I grabbed it without hesitation, and immediately the Light poured out of me. Tyler grunted, and I worked at steadying the flow.

  “Haven’t felt it that strong in a while.”

  “Yeah, I think it might be because of Alec yesterday.”

  “Makes sense.”

  We turned our attention back to the news.

  After the invasion, the media had reported on it almost around the clock for a full week. It had been the first large-scale, outwardly violent attack by an extremist human group—the Human Empowerment Network—against a Variant institution and Variant civilians in a very long time.

  After the first week, the reports about the invasion became more sporadic, but almost every day contained a new report of a Variant business owner refusing to serve a human, or a gang of humans beating up a Variant with a passive ability. Variants were becoming less shy about calling humans Dimes—the derogatory term that had been so offensive a few months ago it was almost never heard in public. Humans were picketing Variant businesses and institutions all over the world. People were scared.

  Today, we were staring at a story about how some senator was running for president. I sighed, exasperated, and tried to pull my hand away from Tyler’s, but he held on tight. He was watching the screen intently, his eyes flying from side to side.

  I got excited and wrapped my other hand around his, pushing more Light through our connection. If he was onto something, I wanted to make sure he had all the juice he needed.

  Absently, I registered the sound of a commercial break, and Tyler gently pulled his hand away, moving backward until his legs hit the couch. He was staring into space, his brow furrowed.

  Alec walked into the room in shorts and a sweat-soaked tank top, moving to the kitchen and rummaging in the fridge. After a few moments, he looked over, abandoned his snack on the bench, and came to stand in front of Tyler. “What did you see?”

  In need of something to do, I grabbed the remote and turned the TV off. That seemed to snap Tyler out of his stare.

  “Senator Anderson,” he said, as if that explained anything.

  When it looked as though he wasn’t going to elaborate, Alec asked, “Christine Anderson? The Variant senator? What about her?”

  Tyler had started to stare into space again, so I tried to keep the information flowing. “There was a news report about her running for president just now. Isn’t she the one who gave the speech the night of the gala?”

  Alec cleared his throat before answering, “Yes.”

  That was the night he’d first kissed me. The night he’d made me think I betrayed my Bond by kissing him back. I crossed my arms and refused to look at him.

  Tyler shook himself out of his stupor. “Sorry. I was trying to make sense of it all. Anderson mentioned the invasion in her speech just then. She’s running on a platform of unifying the humans and the Variants. I think . . . My ability doesn’t work nearly as well when the subject is not physically right in front of me, but I think she knows more than she’s letting on about the invasion, which means she may know . . .”

  “Something about Charlie,” Alec finished for him. “It’s a lead.”

  “Yeah, but we’re talking about government level . . .”

  I didn’t hear the rest of what Tyler was saying. They rushed out, talking over each other.

  I was left standing in the middle of the room, my hands by my sides, stunned. “I’ll just . . . stay here,” I said to no one.

  “Hey, petal pie!” Ethan beamed at me, emerging from the gym and looking as sweaty as Alec.

  “Hey, snookums. Did you do more exercise after our exercise this morning?”

  “Hells yeah!” He went straight to the kitchen, picking up where Alec had left off. “Takes serious commitment to look this good.” He flashed me his dimples as he exaggeratedly flexed his arms.

  “Modest as always.” I perched on a stool across from him.

  “How was your thing with Tyler?”

  “Make me one of those sandwiches”—only Ethan could make a sandwich taste like fine dining—“and I’ll tell you all about it.”

  “Way ahead of you.” He slid a plate to me, and I told him what little I knew.

  After our brief chat, he took two very large sandwiches into Tyler’s study, and I went upstairs to grab my stuff. I would be staying in my res hall that evening. Zara was due back that afternoon.

  Backpack slung over my shoulder, I made my way downstairs, but I knew better t
han to leave without telling anyone. The campus may have been teeming with Melior Group agents, but the three blocks between the Zacarias mansion and the front gates were completely unprotected. One of them would either drive or walk me there. Overprotective, maybe, but I didn’t mind.

  Thinking about why the extra precautions were needed made me feel sick, but I didn’t want to end up like Charlie.

  As predicted, Josh and Ethan were both waiting for me in the foyer.

  “It’s not too hot. Do you wanna walk it?” Josh asked. He was dressed in shorts and an AC/DC T-shirt. I looked pointedly at it, my eyebrows raised. He loved his band tees when relaxing at home but wouldn’t be caught dead out in public without a collared shirt and pressed pants. He was preppy on the outside and wild rock on the inside.

  He rolled his eyes. “It’s not like anyone will see us. It’s three blocks.”

  “Yeah, let’s walk.”

  We all moved to leave just as the door to Tyler’s study flew open. Alec poked his head out.

  “You going?” he asked, looking right at me.

  I stared back, trying to remember the last time he’d spoken directly to me. No one had been around to hear yesterday morning’s “thanks” by the pool, and I wasn’t entirely convinced it had happened.

  “Eve’s staying on campus tonight,” Josh answered for me when I remained silent.

  Alec came to stand right in front of me, digging his hand in his pocket. In the office behind him, Tyler had his phone to his ear, but he was watching us.

  After a moment, Alec pulled a small item out of his pocket and let it hang on a chain between us.

  We both opened our mouths to speak, but my words rushed out first. “You’re giving me jewelry?”

  Was I dreaming? Was this some kind of nightmare? Was he about to give me a necklace, and then when I tried to give one to him, he would throw it at me, declare he “doesn’t want anything from me,” and walk out?

  “What?” His brows creased, and his lip turned up in a grimace. “It’s a tracking device and distress beacon.”

  “What?” The item in question was still swinging in front of my face on a simple silver chain. It looked like a solid silver rod, a little thicker than a pencil and about half the length. The top third of it was matte black.

  Alec rolled his eyes and sighed. “It allows us to know where you are at all times, and if you get in trouble, you can activate the distress signal.” He delivered the speech as if he’d already explained it a thousand times.

  “Wow. The stalking has gone to another level.” I crossed my arms. “I’m not wearing that.”

  “Dammit! Tyler, talk to her.” He let the little device flop to his side.

  Tyler finished his call and came out to join us. “I thought you were going to give it to these two to give her.”

  I turned on him. “You knew about this?”

  Alec spoke at the same time. “I didn’t have a chance to give it to them, and they were about to leave, so . . .”

  “Yeah.” Tyler sighed but had the decency to look a little sheepish. “We came up with the idea together.”

  I looked at them all one by one. “Idiots.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Eve.” Tyler had his serious face on. “Vitals are disappearing every day. With those machines, it doesn’t matter that we’re keeping you a secret. If they track you down, they will take you. We want you to have the freedom to go on with your life, go to class, stay on campus—but we need to take precautions. Please—”

  “It’s either this or a subdermal implant,” Alec cut across him, apparently done with civilized conversation. He stepped in front of me again, blocking my view of the others and holding the necklace up.

  “No way in hell are you putting anything under my skin! That is so creepy.”

  He looked smug and shoved the necklace farther into my face.

  Grumbling, I took it and slipped it over my head, giving him a “there, it’s done” look—my eyes wide, my head cocked to the side. “Happy?”

  He didn’t answer, instead reaching out to grab the pendant in his hand. His knuckles brushed against my sternum where the long chain ended, and I gasped, surprised at the casual contact. He saw my reaction, his eyes boring into mine for the briefest of seconds.

  “It’s constantly transmitting your location,” he explained. “But if you’re in any kind of trouble, you just pull these two bits apart”—he yanked, and the bigger silver bit of the rod came away from the smaller matte black part—“and it will send an alert to us.”

  As if to illustrate his point, their phones went off, a high-pitched alarm bouncing off the marble. All four of them extracted their phones and turned the sound off quickly. Alec kept speaking: “If none of us responds with a password, an automatic message will be sent to Melior Group.”

  He joined the two parts together again.

  “You try it.” He dropped the heavy little bar, and it bounced on my chest. I picked it up, yanked the two bits apart, and braced myself for the alarm. It didn’t disappoint, filling the foyer with its wail again.

  I reconnected the two bits as the guys shut off the alarms.

  “OK, got it.” I sounded bored even to myself.

  “Take this seriously, Evelyn,” Alec growled at me. “This is not a toy. If that alarm goes off, I’m assuming your life is in danger, and we are coming in hot.”

  His intensity took me aback. “OK,” I whispered, then cleared my throat. “OK, I get it. I’m not a child.” A bit of frustration crept in at the end.

  “Aren’t you?” The question wasn’t mocking. It was delivered with a completely straight face. An incomprehensible expression crossed his features, and then he disappeared into Tyler’s study.

  Tyler took his place in front of me, looking apologetic. “Sorry about Alec. He’s just not used to . . .”

  “Having normal conversations with actual people?” I finished for him.

  “Something like that. Look, all we want to do is protect you, OK? This is the least invasive, least overbearing way we could think of.”

  I nodded. “I wish you’d included me in the conversation, but I get it.” We had been isolated for the past few months, cocooned in the safety of the mansion’s sprawling grounds. The escalating violence out in the world may have felt removed, but the threat was real. I just had to look into Dot’s broken face to be reminded of it.

  “Good.” Tyler smiled warmly. “Now, it goes without saying that you can’t take this off. You sleep with it, shower with it. It stays around your neck at all times, got it?”

  “Yes, sir,” I said a little playfully.

  “And don’t tell anyone about it either. It’s inconspicuous enough that it should go unnoticed, but if anyone asks, tell them it was a gift from Ethan.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He gave me an exasperated look, his eyes narrowing. Behind me, Ethan and Josh laughed quietly at some private joke. With one last lingering look at the unassuming pendant, Tyler waved goodbye and followed Alec.

  Ethan, Josh, and I took off, walking most of the way back to campus in silence. I was lost in thought, trying to reconcile Alec’s volatile treatment of me with his obvious desire to keep me safe. The boys mostly just watched me surreptitiously. As we passed the security checkpoint at the gate and moved away from the guards, I began to get exasperated with them.

  “Stop it,” I snapped.

  Ethan stepped into my path and wrapped his big arms around my waist, leaning down to look at me. It was always Ethan in public. Josh couldn’t touch me like this where someone might see. I glanced at him. He appeared casual, his hands in his pockets, his shoulders loose, but there was a tightness to his mouth. He was struggling with this more and more. I was too.

  “We’re just trying to keep you safe.” Ethan’s amber eyes were unusually serious.

  “I know. Thank you.” I hugged him, but I watched Josh as I did, putting as much warmth and meaning into my look as I put into Ethan’s hug. He quirked his lips and nodded his he
ad almost imperceptibly.

  We said our goodbyes, and I headed to my res hall. As I approached the entrance, I kept my gaze fixed on the door, refusing to look at the building next to ours—the spot in the alcove where I’d last seen Charlie. My heart hammered in my chest every time I walked past there, remembering . . .

  I ran up the stairs, the burn in my legs giving me a distraction, and made myself think about Zara. I’d sent her a few messages that morning—wishing her a safe flight, asking if she needed a lift from the airport, asking when she’d be back on campus—but she hadn’t answered any of them.

  Three

  The breeze drifting in through my window still carried the warmth of a summer morning. It was only a matter of time before it became too cold to have the window open at all, so I enjoyed the sweet smell of fresh air, the sound of early birds.

  I sat on my bed in my PJ top, a heavy book on my lap: Vital Myths in Medieval Texts. The book wasn’t as old as the parchment and vellum tomes it referenced—it was published in the late nineties—but it did have pictures of early texts depicting Variant life hundreds of years ago.

  As I leaned back on my pillows, I stared at a depiction of a Vital found in a monk’s tome from 1508. The Vital man stood in the middle of five women. Precious gold leaf had been painstakingly applied to the sections of the drawing that were supposed to be his skin, and a yellowish-white color had been drawn in all around him. Gold-leaf arrows pointed to each of the women, his Variants.

  It was clearly representing what I’d experienced on the train platform, and again with Alec, yet the book was dismissing it as the overactive imagination and religious devotion of a person from a time before science. This was just how they saw Vitals at that time—sent from God and therefore glowing in the light of his divinity. It theorized that our modern terminology for the Light came from this idea.

  Interesting, but completely useless. I sighed and let the heavy book flop onto my lap, abandoning it halfway through a sentence. I’d been almost obsessive in my research over the summer, trying to find any information I could about Vitals glowing—what it was, why it happened, if it was dangerous. But after two months, all I had were vague references in history books and a few conspiracy theories online about the government experimenting on Vitals with exceptional levels of Light. I had nothing.