The Hunt

17

Ariane

I STORMED THROUGH MARA’S KITCHEN and out the sliding glass door, heading toward the empty house and our van—my van—in the driveway.

How blind did Zane think I was? I knew that Ford made him uncomfortable. He’d practically oozed disgust earlier today.

And whether he wanted to admit it or not, she and I were cut from the same cloth. Literally, if one considered DNA as a weaving of a sort.

My eyes welled with unshed tears. How could he not see that the things he hated in Ford were in me too? And beyond that, why couldn’t he trust me anyway? Hadn’t I proved myself worthy of that, at least?

In that moment, I envied Ford, just a little. She wasn’t alone, trying to figure all of this out. There were three of them. She would never have to choose sides between human and other because she had a side of her own with Carter and Nixon.

But that didn’t mean I was foolish enough to have blind faith in her. In any of them. Getting Ford and the others away from Laughlin truly was the best strategy to save all of us, including Quinn. And yeah, working with Ford left us open to betrayal, but I already had a plan in mind to address that. A plan that I would have gladly shared with Zane if he’d bothered to hear me out.

Is it possible you’re overreacting? my human side nudged. You know he wasn’t suggesting that you were less than human, just different. And Ford is a bit of a freak, if we’re being honest.

It was just that his reaction brought up this horrible, inescapable fear in me that, maybe, what Ford had said was right. Maybe I wasn’t being true to myself around him; I was still hiding behind my human facade. And that, in turn, raised the ugly specter of Dr. Jacobs’s and Mara’s words—that I didn’t belong out here. That what I wanted couldn’t be mine. Because, as a freak of science or manufactured miracle of human ingenuity, whatever you want to call it, I didn’t deserve it. Those dreams were reserved for “real” people.

Tears ran down my cheeks and dripped off my chin. I swiped at them angrily. I shouldn’t have gotten involved with Zane. It had been a mistake. I’d been fooling myself.

We were too different. He wanted me to trust full-blooded humans. First a few reporters, and then a whole planet full of them, to keep me safe. How was that any less risky than what Ford had suggested? My track record with humans was already, forgive the pun, less than stellar.

I inhaled slowly, trying to calm myself down. All I’d wanted was a small, normal life. Something to call my own. Something real. And I’d wanted it to be with Zane. A chance to go on a date, maybe, without worrying about someone following us or abducting me out of the bathroom.

But that was not to be. Not now. Maybe not ever.

And yet, I was still here. I still had choices to make and things to do. Right now, if I wanted to beat the deadline on Quinn’s video, I had about twenty-four hours to get into Laughlin Integrated, find the Quorosene, and get back out.

And that started with returning to Linwood Academy before Ford, Nixon, and Carter left for “home.” I figure I had maybe forty-five minutes to make the trip, and that would be cutting it close, especially with a stop at drugstore for the supplies I needed.

I squared my shoulders as I reached the sidewalk of the house we’d been using as a home base. Zane may not have agreed with my course of action. Fine. But he wasn’t here anymore. It was up to me. And there was some relief in that. I would do what I needed to do.

I ducked inside the house and found the keys where Zane had left them, upstairs in the slightly damp bathroom sink. I left as swiftly as I entered, refusing to allow myself to look on any of the dirty rooms with aching fondness or reminiscence, actively blocking all thoughts of our time together.

But when I opened the van and climbed behind the wheel, I discovered that the seat was pushed so far back that it revealed a portion of the floor mat that was the original gray, unfaded by the sun. My feet were miles away from the pedals.

A ripple slipped through my forced calm. What if that was the last time we saw each other? What if I walked away and those were my final words to him?

I didn’t mean what I’d said, not entirely. I knew he wasn’t the same as Dr. Jacobs. But I’d let Zane think I believed otherwise. And now, away from the heat of the moment, the memory of the hurt on his face was a knife to my heart. He’d risked so much for me, and I’d crushed him like he didn’t matter.

I shook my head. No. Thinking like this wasn’t productive. And I didn’t have time for it. Once I was done here, once I’d succeeded in freeing Ford, Carter, and Nixon and ending the competition, thereby saving Quinn and Zane and anybody else GTX might attempt to take to try to control me, then I’d come back. Then I’d see if there was anything left between Zane and me. Assuming he would even be interested. He’d been so angry. My being right might not fix that. I’d learned that a long time ago—sometimes full-blooded humans would rather be wrong and figure it out for themselves eventually instead of having someone push them toward the correct answer.

But I didn’t have that luxury.

I adjusted the seat, started the engine, and backed out of the driveway, wishing for not the first time in my life that someone had bothered to teach me the mechanics of gaming traffic signals. What good was telekinesis, if not for creating a stream of green lights when you needed it?

Regular school buses, looking shockingly out of place compared to the rest of Linwood Academy, were lined up out in front of the school along with any number of shiny cars with convoluted hood ornaments. The more complicated, the more expensive, was my observation.

But, thankfully, I didn’t see a single navy-blazered student.

The space near the back of the lot where Zane and I had parked earlier was full now. And I couldn’t help but notice the dark SUV with tinted windows, idling nearby.

Crap.

I drove past, hoping it looked like I was searching for a parking space. I couldn’t let them see me. Which sort of ruled out sneaking in the front door again.

Thinking, I tapped my fingers on the wheel and then stopped as soon as I realized what I was doing. It was a nervous fidget I’d picked up from Zane. Even away from him, I couldn’t escape his lingering effects.

With an effort, I refocused my attention on the problem at hand. The dark SUV’s presence ruled out the “sneaking” part, yes. But not necessarily the “in” portion of the equation. If there was no way around them seeing me, then I’d have to do the next best thing: act like I didn’t care.

I made a quick loop around the parking lot and pulled into an open space, marked reserved, right near the covered entrance.

If appearing to skulk might draw attention, then behaving like an entitled student would, especially around here, make me blend right in. Except for my distinctly nonluxury vehicle. But hopefully they’d be more focused on me and not my ride.

With shaking fingers, I tugged at the knots in the scarf around my neck until the fabric pulled free. Then I wound it around and through my ponytail, tying it off at the end.

It wasn’t fashionable, but it would cover most of my distinctive hair, made even more so now by a hastily application of bleach in a CVS bathroom to eliminate my lowlights.

I was hedging that Laughlin’s men weren’t as well versed in female fashion as other important skills like takedowns and hand-to-hand combat.

I slung my emergency duffel bag over my shoulder and climbed down from the van, hurrying for the door.

Please, God, make me look like a student running late to something.

It might have worked, but the bell rang.

Crap.

A swarm of people dressed just like I was immediately flooded out, leaving me the sole body moving upstream.

Well, at least it would make it tougher for Laughlin’s guys to find me, if they were looking.

Of course, that would also make it equally tough to find Ford before she spilled out with everyone else.

I kept my head up as best I could, looking for the bright flash of white-blond hair. But with my height disadvantage, I wasn’t seeing much but blazer-clad shoulders around me. And the occasional backpack flying toward my face as someone turned to talk to someone else around them.

As I stumbled across the threshold into the entryway, the crowd broke and I nearly fell forward without the press of bodies around me to keep me upright.

A hand caught my wrist and yanked me up with less care and more impatience.

I looked up to find Ford staring down at me, her mouth a flat line of displeasure.

Without a word, Nixon and Carter stepped around me, one in front and one behind. Hiding me, I guess. It made a kind of sense—I’d sort of blend in between them and most people’s glances would skim right over the top of me. Hopefully.

“Why are you here?” Ford demanded.

“You said it was up to me to figure out how to get in. I have a plan.”

Her gaze searched me, as if looking for building blueprints and rappelling equipment. Then a slow smile spread over her face.

I shivered. It was disconcerting and eerie.

“You want to be me,” she said. I could almost feel Nixon and Carter tense.

“No,” I said with a touch too much sharpness. “I want to pretend to be you. Temporarily.” I wasn’t surprised that she’d figured it out. As I’d told Zane, I’d recognized my own pattern of thinking in what she’d said to us in the practice room. Her logic was cold, unfriendly, maybe, yes, but I had that same voice living in the back of my head.

“We are a unit. It is not easy for us to be separated for any length of time or distance,” Carter offered, his voice softer than when he was speaking for Ford. “Until we’re out of range, Ford will feel compelled to rejoin us. We’ve tried to…separate before.”

The pain in his voice made me wonder what lengths they’d gone to to save themselves. Or how far Dr. Laughlin had pushed them. He couldn’t send all three of them into the trials, and if they didn’t function well as individuals, then he was in trouble, no matter what he’d promised Ford.

“How will you keep Ford from following us?” Carter asked.

“We’ll figure that out,” I promised. “I’ve got some ideas.” After all, I didn’t need her to stay away forever. Just long enough for me to get inside.

Ford gave a small sigh of exasperation, as if it wasn’t even worth the air to explain how stupid I was. “Even if you can successfully imitate me long enough to gain access”—her tone indicated how unlikely she thought this feat—“you will be noticed wandering the halls alone. Alarms will be raised immediately and you will be subject to examination, if only to determine how you broke free of our bond.”

Not to mention it would completely leave me vulnerable to a double-cross, should she be thinking along those lines. But I wasn’t done yet. Not even close. I wasn’t going to be the only one with skin in the game.

I smiled at her, letting my teeth show, and my face protested at the unnatural gesture. But it worked, as she swayed back slightly with a frown.

“That’s where you come in,” I said.

Ford tipped her head to one side, that evaluating look I recognized. It might have also been faint admiration; I wasn’t sure. “We have only a few minutes before our security team will come looking for us,” she said.

“It’ll be enough,” I promised. Or so I hoped.