Courage (Mark of Nexus) Read online

  Gabby flicked me off. “Bite me. It’s the end of the semester.”

  “Yeah,” Aiden piped up. “We’ve got exams coming up.”

  I quirked an eyebrow. “Exams you’re studying for by watching…” I squinted at the screen and cringed. “Dumb and Dumber?”

  Of course. It had to be one of Wallace’s favorite movies. He’d seen the film so many times, he laughed before the funny parts.

  “You bet. How was punching stuff?” Gabby asked, pushing herself up. “D’you work out that sexual frustration?”

  Ah, yes. The one constant in my life.

  I flopped down on my desk chair. “No, but I did have a fight with Wallace in front of The Rec. That was fun. Oh, and it was right after I saw him playing around with Corynn on the track. Great day, really.”

  “The new girl?” Gabby leaned in, her eyes wide as saucers. I’d only told her the barebones of the association. Corynn was an intern where Maverick worked, and she was studying here for the summer. Having her pop up in a story like this probably seemed like major dish.

  “Yeah.”

  “You think he’s going to take her to the dance?”

  Stab. “I don’t know. I hadn’t thought about it.”

  “You’re still going, aren’t you?” Aiden spoke up this time, having pried himself away from the movie. “It’s less than two weeks away.”

  Oh, that’d be fun. Going to the dance I set up in honor of my ex-boyfriend. “Uh, no.”

  “What?” Gabby popped up like a corpse in one of those prank caskets. “Girl, we did not parade around the mall for three hours so you could stick that dress in your closet. You are going to that dance, even if I have to take you myself.”

  “Aren’t you going with Maverick?” I asked, crinkling my nose at the mere mention of the traitor.

  “Not anymore. He’s got to work.” She collapsed onto her mattress with a sigh. “Jinxy’s filling in.”

  “And that’s not weird?” Jinx and Maverick were roommates a couple of months back. I was pretty sure that broke the Bro Code, or the Geneva Convention, or…something.

  She turned her head to blink at me. “Why would it be weird?”

  “Never mind.”

  “You, uh…” Aiden cleared his throat, drawing my attention. “Need someone to take you, Rena?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, because I’m a girl who needs a man to take her places.” I turned to Gabby for backup, but she was glaring daggers at me. Shit. Was that supposed to be a hint?

  Aiden wiped his palms on my comforter and sat up a little straighter. “Well, I thought maybe I could take you.”

  I looked from him to Gabby, and then back to him. “Oh. Uh…sure?”

  He brightened. “Really?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Why not?” It wasn’t like I could really back out on the whole thing, anyway. I’d planted the idea in the sorority president’s head. It’d be bad form if I didn’t show up.

  “Awesome,” he cheered, giving a fist pump. “You won’t regret it, Rena. We’re gonna have a blast.”

  “No doubt there.” I laughed, but it hurt inside.

  I still loved Wallace. This dance meant something special to him, and if I were honest, it meant something to me, too. I’d spent months dreaming about sharing that night together. How would I react if I saw him there with another girl?

  Even worse, how would he react if he saw me there with another guy? Not that Aiden was threat material, but still. Would this cement things between us?

  Bleh. I was starting to think the last month of this semester had been nothing but a string of mistakes on my part, and we still had two weeks to go. Couldn't I just crawl under the covers and hide until summer break?

  CHAPTER 24

  Wallace left in a hurry after his fight with Rena. The poor guy had been so red in the face when he came back, I didn’t have the heart to ask what happened. Instead, I just patted him on the back, gathered my things, and made my way outside.

  Wilcox really did have a lovely campus. Lots of trees, green space, and fragrant flowers. The only thing missing was noise. Sirens, voices, rain against the windows—familiarities to help me sleep at night. It felt like I’d been dropped into a time warp.

  When can I go home?

  At least I’d gotten my assignments done for Faye. Rena and Wallace were caput—no thanks to me, really—and he was taking me to the dance. Check and check. Now all I had to do was await further orders regarding Phase II and hope for the best.

  The best being a relative term.

  I didn’t like the shit I’d had to do here, but if it kept my family safe, I was more than willing to cross a few things off ERA’s wish list. Faye had outlined what would happen if I didn’t cooperate, and there were no misunderstandings betwe—

  My shoe rolled over a rock on the pavement, and I flailed for balance. The sound of quickened footfalls pounded the path behind me, before someone caught my arm. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, I just…” I looked up to find Cole, Wallace’s brother, staring at me. “It’s you.”

  “It’s me,” he agreed. “Out for a stroll?”

  “What are you doing here?”

  Cole raised his brows. “Is that nice? I didn’t ask what you were doing here, Miss I’m-attending-school-forty-minutes-from-my-internship. Maybe we’re here for the same reason.”

  “Right,” I quipped. “And what reason would that be?”

  His gaze ignited, and for a second, the world dimmed in comparison. “To interfere with situations we have no business in.”

  Great. Like I needed this now.

  “Of course, that’s a matter of perspective,” he continued, lifting his palms up. “Maybe you think yourself well-intended.”

  I rubbed my temples. “What do you want, Cole?”

  “I want to abduct you and blur on out of here, but your killjoy powers ruin that plan. So, why don’t we do this the old fashioned way?” He gestured toward a bench a few meters away. “Let’s have a chat.”

  Faye didn’t say how to handle Wallace’s brother, so I didn’t see the harm in hearing him out. It wasn’t like the situation could get much worse. “Only if you take back the abduction comment.”

  Cole laughed. “Please. Have you seen this face?” He grabbed his jaw and tilted his head from side to side, showing off his striking features. “I wouldn’t have to resort to those tactics…again.”

  Did he say again? “Comforting.”

  “Yeah.” He walked over and sat down. “So, here’s the thing.”

  Straight to the point, wasn’t he? I sighed and followed him over. “What?”

  “You’re in deep shit.”

  Great. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

  “Okay, I found this flyer.” He leaned forward and pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his back pocket. “It says R.S. Tobler Laboratories is hosting a vaccination study.”

  “So?”

  “So, you think I’m stupid?” His dark brows drew together, and I finally noticed his resemblance to Wallace. “ERA’s been bragging about their experiments for months. Now they suddenly want to host an open house for humans? Right. What’s in those shots?”

  “I wouldn’t know.” I started to walk away, but he jumped up to block my path.

  “Whoa. You sure about that?”

  I lifted my chin. “I work for the lab, Cole, not Project ERA.”

  “So you do know what ERA is,” he shot back, his lips twitching into a grin. “If you weren’t involved, you wouldn’t.”

  Shit. “They mentioned it during orientation.”

  “Right, because that makes sense.” He put a hand on my shoulder and leaned in, giving me a waft of smoke and aftershave. “C’mon, Corynn. Tell me what you know. I want to help.”

  If only it were that easy. One miscalculation on my part, and Teddy would be brought here to suffer the consequences. Faye had made that abundantly clear. Who makes threats like that and expects allegiance, anyway? Crazy bitch.

 
; I gave Cole another once-over. He seemed the fit, capable sort. Maybe he could help me out, after all. “How do I know I can trust you?”

  His eyes darkened, and he looked around to make sure no one was within earshot. “Because I’ll tell you what I know in return.”

  My throat went dry. “Then we should keep moving.”

  He nodded and slid an arm around my shoulders, guiding me down the sidewalk. “Shall we take the scenic route?”

  I followed his gaze past the parking lot, up the hill, to the massive pond behind the student union. “Sure.”

  We strode around the parked cars in silence, neither of us willing to be the first to break. Our coupled shadow stretched out across the uneven asphalt as we moved—a monstrosity worthy of our hideous, temporary alliance.

  “I know about the virus,” he admitted. “And I know Gail’s mother has the ability to restructure microorganisms, but what I don’t know is why or how they plan to use it.” He flashed the flyer in front of my face again. “Convenient timing, though. Don’t you think?”

  “Where did you hear all that?” They’d threatened me within an inch of my life before revealing Elise’s powers. Cole acted like it was common knowledge.

  “I read it,” he said, crumpling the paper up and tossing it into a bin. “Not the best security at your headquarters. Honestly, I come and go all the time.”

  “Do they know?” Maybe he could sneak me out…

  He lifted his shoulder, and it rolled against my neck. “Sometimes. So, what’s with the virus?”

  My stomach lurched, and I scanned the area again. “It’s…”

  “Yeah?”

  Sweat broke out over my brow. No, I couldn’t do this. There was too much at stake, too much that could go wrong. I tried to back out of his hold. “I’m sorry, I—”

  “Nooo, no.” His grip tightened, and he forced me to match his long strides as he charged up the stairs. “See, that’s not how this works. I share something, and then it’s your turn. Give and take. You and me. If one of us doesn’t live up to our end of the bargain…well, that’s a problem.”

  I shuddered against him. “You don’t understand, Cole.”

  “Don’t back out on me now,” he growled, barely keeping his temper in check. “You work in the lab on the weekends, right? I’ve seen them pick you up. So, why not just tell me where the info is, so I can break in? I’ve been making my way through the department, anyway. They won’t suspect a thing.”

  The sunlight reflected off the water in shimmering streaks of gold. “You swear it won’t be traced back to me?”

  “I swear.” He held up his hand and did some kind of three-fingered gesture. “Scout’s honor.”

  Ugh.

  “The virus is a catalyst,” I blurted out. “They’re going to use it to drive people into the clinic to get vaccinated.”

  “The clinic?” Little lines broke out over his forehead. “Why? It’s not like they’ll make money off of it.”

  “You mentioned the experiments, right? Imagine this virus-driven chaos with hundreds, maybe thousands, of people pouring in to participate in the study. They get screened, and those who’re deemed worthy receive a special first dose of the vaccine.”

  “And then they change?”

  “Hardly,” I answered in a bitter tone. “Faye would never do something so obvious. The participants will have to come in several times over the next six weeks for follow-up doses. If they continue to please the pharmaceutical gods, their last shot will be bundled with something to knock them out. We'll tell the family their loved one had a serious reaction. It was a trial, after all. Then we'll suggest keeping them in the clinic for a couple of days, just to be safe.”

  The corner of his lips pulled down. “And?”

  “And there's not much I can tell you beyond that. Faye refers to them as SAGEs—Somatically Advanced Genetic Experiments. If they’re anything like the first sixteen incarnations, they’ll end up berserk or dead within a week, anyway. That’s why ERA had to up the ante and get a bigger testing pool.”

  “What about that guy Rena kicked in the nuts? Maverick. Is he dead yet?”

  I shook my head. “He never received treatment. I heard he volunteered, but Gail threw a fit. It was too early in the game to test on someone so valuable.”

  “That lying little shit…” Cole gritted his teeth. “So, how'd they get test subjects before this?”

  “Faye's goons grabbed people off the street—hookers, meth-heads, runaways—people whose disappearance wouldn’t draw attention.”

  His eyes darted back and forth as he slowed, processing the information. “So, this first study is a test run. They're establishing a history so it doesn't seem reflexive after the virus. “

  “Right.”

  He worked his lip between his teeth. “The big question is, how are they going to release the virus?”

  “There's talk that they've already released it in New England, and they're working their way down here, but I don't know when or how. That’s Phase II.” There. I'd said my piece. It was time to get out of the open. Faye could have informants anywhere.

  I started to walk away, but he spun me around and gripped both of my shoulders with wide eyes.

  “Don’t you get how serious this is? Find out the details.”

  I shoved him off. “You find out. I’m in enough danger as it is.”

  His nostrils flared, but he didn’t fight me. “Fine. Tell me where the plans are. I’ve already hit most of the records offices.”

  “That’s gonna be a problem. Elise seems to be running that part of the show, and she takes her laptop back to her room every night.”

  “Her room?” He made a face. “They’re camping out down there?”

  I raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were familiar with the facility.”

  “I was looking for a lab, not luxury condos. Where are they?”

  “Opposite end of the catacombs,” I explained, gesturing to an imaginary map with my hands. “You coming in from the clinic or the outside entrance?”

  “Outside.” He frowned.

  “Okay, so you come down and swing a right instead of a left. Work your way toward the white lights.”

  He scratched his head. “I did see lights, but they were red.”

  “Don’t go there. That’s a testing facility. I think they blow shit up.”

  “Of course.” He squinted up at the sun and shook his head. “So, are you going to fill Wallace in or am I?”

  “Whoa.” I took a step back into the marshy grass and tensed. Did I just come close to falling in the water? I glanced over my shoulder and shuddered. Yeah, too close. “I thought we were keeping this between us.”

  He raised an eyebrow at my feet and their proximity to the pond. “We are. You, me, Wallace, and Rena.”

  “I didn’t agree to that.”

  His expression hardened. “So, you don’t want to save all those people? You’re just going to let little babies and toddlers and shit catch this virus? Will it kill ‘em?”

  “I-I don’t know the specifics of the—”

  “Will. It. Kill. Them?” His pupils were swallowed up by dark, threatening irises.

  “It might,” I admitted, though I hadn’t wanted to consider it. Faye said the virus would weed out the weakest candidates, but she didn’t go into detail. What if it’s more serious than she’s let on?

  “Then it sounds like you have a choice to make.” He crossed his arms. “If you help us, we’ll do whatever we can to shield you, but you gotta be with us a hundred percent. None of this double agent shit, because I will find out.”

  “All right.” Was he going to push me in the water? I wanted to move, but I didn’t want to make it seem like I didn’t trust him. This side deal could be my only chance at escape.

  “I’ll give you three days,” he said, tilting his chin toward the south end of campus. “If you haven’t told Wallace by then, I’ll take that as your answer, but we're going to stop this domino either way.
No virus, no demand for the vaccine. Everything starts there.”

  My heart leapt into my throat. “Can we wait until after the dance Friday? I-I don’t want to screw things up and call attention to myself.”

  He heaved a sigh as a breeze blew in off the pond. “Fine. One week, but no more. You got that?”

  I nodded.

  “I like you, so”—he hooked his fingers under the strap of my cami, pushed until an off-balance chill shot up my spine, and then jerked me back with a flick of his wrist—”I suggest you make the right choice.”

  CHAPTER 25

  “Josh,” I groaned. “Rena’s going to be here any minute. Can’t you clean up?”

  My roommate flicked a glance over his shoulder, shrugged, and went back to murdering people on his Xbox. “Looks clean to me.”

  “Your boxers are on the lampshade.” How could he not see them, all nasty blue and hanging off his desk light? It was gross.

  “They’re to remind me to do laundry.”

  “I remind you to do laundry!” I smacked myself on the forehead. “Seriously, get them out of here.”

  Josh turned around with a scowl. “Relax, dude. It’s not like you’re dating her.”

  Warmth shot across my cheeks and singed my ears. “That’s not why I said it.”

  “Uh huh.” He turned back to the game, barking a random command into his headset. Typical Sunday night.

  Rena was coming to hang out while Gabby went on her date, so things had to be perfect. I’d already gotten past the hard part. She and I were going to the dance. Together. Practically a date of our own. I just had to test the waters…

  I grinned.

  Whatever she wore to the dance, I knew she’d look smokin’ hot. All of the other guys would look at me and be like, ‘Whoa. Who’s that guy? What does he have that I don’t?’ And I’d give them a thumbs-up and keep walking. They wouldn’t—

  “Why the hell are you grinning at my boxers?” Josh asked, his thumbs flying over the controller’s buttons. “Stop it.”

  I jumped. “W-What? I’m not.”