Courage (Mark of Nexus) (18 page)

My pulse raged in my ears, frantic with pressure. Why on earth had I thought I could keep something like this from him? The man was an empath, for crying out loud. The only one I’d fooled this long was myself.

“I’m scared,” I admitted, forcing myself to hold his stare. “My heart was in the right place, but my vision was skewed. I didn’t think about what it would do to us—what it would do to the trust we’d worked so hard to build.”

When he didn’t say anything, I stammered, “L-Looking back now, I can’t help but think I jumped ship. Things were getting complicated and overwhelming and…I thought it would make things easier on both of us.”

He pushed off the door, his steps slow and deliberate. “But it didn’t. I couldn’t see past that hurt for weeks, and when I finally saw you…”

“You snapped,” I finished for him. “I didn’t blame you. Your words woke me up. I needed someone to yell at me and tell me I was being ridiculous. You know me. I need that all the time. You balance me out.”

He leaned in and rested his hands on either side of my hips on the counter. “Maybe, but I shouldn’t have let myself get that upset. Being around Corynn lulls me into a false sense of security. Imagine if I were around her more often. I’d get used to being powerless, and every time I had to be away from her—”

“You’d destroy things.” I swallowed at the warmth of his breath on my forehead. “I didn’t think about that.”

“You didn’t think about a lot of things.” He wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on top of my head. “But you were willing to give up everything for me, even if it hurt you.”

I felt every word rumble between us, spreading a familiar heat throughout my body. God, it felt like home. “I’m so sorry.”

“Me too.” He gave me a tight squeeze, and I knew his strength was already rebounding.

I closed my eyes and sagged against him. “So, where does this leave us?”

Déjà vu.

“Together?” he answered, uncertainty edging his voice. “If you want to reconsider taking that out I offered.”

I pulled back. “Are you serious? I want that more than anything.”

Relief met with apprehension and swept through our bond. He wanted this, I could tell that much, but he was still worried. Who could blame him? I had a history of punking out on these things.

“I know I’ll have to earn your trust back,” I added. “But I’m ready, Wallace. You have no idea how ready I am.”

His gaze slid down to my legs, which had—unbeknownst to me—wrapped themselves around his waist. “Somehow, I think I do.”

I fought a blush and slapped his chest. “Shut up.” Geez. It wasn’t like I’d pointed out the monstrosity that’d been poking me through his towel.

“One problem, though,” he said, tilting his head toward the wall. “I’ve got a theory on that.”

“Corynn?”

“Yeah.”

I leaned in as he whispered his take on ERA’s plans, and something clicked inside me. The timing, the cryptic one-liners Faye had fed me. This plot had been well orchestrated from the start.

“That evil, old bat hustled me,” I muttered in disbelief.

“Mhm.”

My gaze wandered upward as I worked it out in my mind. “Faye played on my insecurities, so Corynn could swoop in.” I reached up and pushed the inky, wet spikes of his hair together to form his signature faux hawk. “She knew you’d be neutralized, and I’d be prime pickings for ERA. But why?”

I let my fingertips trail down the sides of his face, reacquainting myself with every line. His skin was still damp and rough in places, but I couldn’t imagine anything had ever felt better. This man was
mine
again, once and for all.

“The virus?” Wallace muttered in a husky voice, his eyes dark as he watched me. “I wouldn’t be able to stop them.”

“Yeah, but why would they need me?” I ran my tongue over my bottom lip and bit down. Oh man. He had that look on his face—the one that made my toes curl.

He leaned in. “They know what you are now.”

“I’d make them more powerful,” I whispered, eyes widening in realization. The roster. How did I miss that?

He hesitated, blew out a sharp breath, and then let his arms fall back to his sides. “Speaking of which…”

Oh, great. His strength chose
now
to return.
Freakin’ supernatural cockblock.

“Sorry, you just—”

“I know,” I grumbled. “I rev the process up. Worst superpower ever.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “Uh, what was it you used to say?”

I blinked.

“Having superpowers must be so damn hard,” he mimicked in a high voice. “We should all be so unfortunate.”

“Seriously?” I gaped at him, trying not to laugh. “How on earth do you remember this stuff?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “You stick with me.”

Okay, that was sweet—like, Hallmark card sweet—and I bet he didn’t even realize it. I ran my hands down the front of his chest, grateful that every dip, every plane was mine to explore again. Between the steam and the scent of his body wash, I was feeling the heat.

This did not appease the towel monster.

Wallace swallowed and carefully unhooked my legs from his waist. “So, uh…how are we going to play this?”

“Play what?” I asked, wincing at my breathless tone. “Getting out of here?”

“That.” He took a step back and adjusted his towel. “And the fact that we’re back together. I mean, Faye still thinks we’re fighting. Do we really want her on the offense again?”

“No, we can’t let her know yet.” I hopped down and straightened my damp clothes. “We can’t let anyone know yet, can we?”

He shook his head. “Not for a while.”

“We’ll play it cool,” I said. “Wait until she makes her next move, and then strike back as a united front. One-two, ya know?” I punched the air. “She’ll never see it coming.”

“Or at least until we get enough information to make our own move,” he added. “I can press Corynn, and Cole can keep digging. We might be able to cut Faye off at the pass.”

I rubbed my forehead. “So, I’m still going to the dance with Aiden?”

Wallace flinched, but tried to play it off. “Yeah, I guess. If you already said you’d go with him.”

“And you’re going with Corynn?” I asked, the words bitter on my lips.

His brows lowered. “Yeah.”

Jealousy stabbed me between the ribs, and I had to turn away. My eye was two blinks away from a full-on twitch. “I’ll still see you there, won’t I?”

“Are you kidding me?” He jerked his chin back. “Of course.”

“Good.” I took a few steps toward the door and turned back. “Because I was really looking forward to going with my math geek.”

His gaze softened, and his smile was bittersweet. “You mean your eye candy?”

“Yeah.” I snickered under my breath. “My eye candy.”

“Maybe he’ll steal you away for a few minutes.”

“Maybe he should.”

We stared at each other for a few meaningful seconds before he cleared his throat. “You, uh, better go.” He gestured toward Aiden and Josh’s room. “Act mad or something.”

“Sure.” I reached for the handle and turned back. “Oh, and Wallace?”

His brows arched. “Yeah?”

“No more outs, okay?”

He gave me one of those adorable, boyish grins of his. “No more outs.”

With a contented sigh, I wrenched the door open, took a deep breath, and yelled, “See if I ever help you again, asshole!”

“That didn’t sound good,” I muttered, as Wallace stormed over to his dresser. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” he grunted, without bothering to turn around. “Rena had to give me an injection, it was humiliating, and then we got into it. Nothing new there.”

“An injection for what?” I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his back and the muscles that bunched with every movement. How did the students here miss that he wasn’t human? The man had a muscular back, for crying out loud. Who has a muscular
back
?

He looked over his shoulder. “Didn’t they brief you at ERA? I have chronic cluster headaches.”

“ERA?” I puffed up.
That slimy bastard said I had a week!
Sure, I’d come up here to feel things out, but that was my business. He shouldn’t have pushed me. “What all did Cole tell you?”

“Cole didn’t tell me anything,” Wallace answered in an eerily calm voice. “Why? Should he have mentioned something in particular?”

“No, I just…Why did you say ERA?”

He started to gesture with his arm, but hurried to grab a loose fold in his towel. “That's where you work, isn’t it?”

I frowned. “I work in the labs. ERA is an entirely different division.”

“Right.” He pinned me with a stare, and I squirmed.

“What?” Did I look guilty or something? I wasn’t ready to have this conversation yet.

“Did you want to watch?” he asked, gesturing the length of his too-toned body.

Well, geesh. I craned my neck back to study the wall. Someone was a prude.

Seconds ticked by before he announced I could look again, and thank God. The man had donned gym shorts and a t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off. An outfit far less distracting than the towel.

I turned off the telly and scooted back on his bed. “Look, I didn’t realize the headaches were that bad. I’m sorry.”

“You know”—he tossed his towel in the corner—”I don’t think you realize how bad a lot of things are.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He jerked his mini-fridge open and grabbed an ice pack from the top compartment. “How’s that internship working out for you?”

I watched as he pressed the bag against the swollen area around his eye. “You sure you’re okay?”

He plopped down on his desk chair. “Peachy.”

“You’re not going to have another one, are you?”

“Not for another couple of hours.”

“Oh,” I mumbled. “Good.”

“Yeah.” He tipped his head back to hold the ice in place. “Which means we’ll have to wait until after nine to go to the dance on Friday.”

Were the headaches that regular? I shrugged. “That’s fine with me. We don’t want to be the losers who show up when it starts, anyway.”

“True. You’ll still get paid either way.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, and then did a double take. “What?”

His head rolled to the side, and he studied me with his good eye. “Well, you
are
getting paid, aren’t you?”

My heart did a flip. Did he know something was up, or was he fishing? “P-Paid for what?” I asked, sidestepping the question. “That’s not funny.”

His lips twisted into an unexpected grin. “Yeah, but you know what is funny?”

I didn’t want to ask.

“Even without my powers,” he went on, not bothering to wait for my reply, “I can still tell when someone is lying.”

Shit.
I turned away before he could see my expression. This wasn’t how the conversation was supposed to go at all. Cole said I had a week. A flippin’ week. What was I supposed to do now?

“I’m not mad.” Wallace had gotten up. He sounded closer, higher in altitude. “But I do need to know what’s going on.”

A lump formed in my throat, and I choked it down. “You’re sure you haven’t talked to Cole?”

“Why do you keep asking that?” A shadow crossed over my legs, and Wallace knelt before me. “Did he do something?”

I turned back and flinched at his close proximity. The man radiated intensity—the kind I couldn’t look away from. “H-He ran into me after I left The Rec,” I admitted. “We came to a sort of understanding.”

“Okay?”

“I want to tell you about it. It’s just…” I trailed off. “I’m afraid of what’ll happen if I get involved with you guys.”

He leaned on the mattress to balance himself. “Try me.”

Ugh. I’d been cornered. There was no helping it now. “It all started when I heard about this scholarship…”

For the next ten minutes, I recounted every detail I could remember. The shock of being stranded and realizing what I’d gotten myself into, ERA’s orientation, their plans for the virus, how I’d recited a script the day of the festival, why his misunderstanding with Rena had actually worked in my favor—everything.

When I was done, he sat there, trying to digest it all. “So, you’re in a pretty bad position, huh?”

I could barely force myself to nod. “Seems that way.”

“I’m sorry Faye brought you into this mess,” he said in a low voice. “I knew she was sick, but I didn’t think she’d threaten your family. That’s terrible.”

Tears stung my eyes, but I refused to let myself cry in front of him. All I could picture was Teddy, away from everything familiar and terrified. “I don’t know what to do, Wallace.”

He put a hand on my arm and gave a light squeeze. “We’ll figure something out. Don’t worry. The important thing is we’re all on the same side now.”

“But not publically, right?”

“Right. Until Cole finds something, just do whatever you have to.”

I bit my lip. “Okay.”

“It’ll be fine,” he assured me. “We’ll still go to the dance, Rena and I will pretend to keep fighting, and Faye will be none the wiser.”

I raised my chin. “What do you mean
pretend
to keep fighting?”

Red crept over his cheeks. “Uh…”

My mouth dropped open, and I shoved him. “You little sneak! You’re back together, aren’t you?”

He clamped a hand over my mouth and practically tackled me onto the mattress, eyes wide with panic. “Shut up!”

“Mmphmm.” I rammed my knee into his gut, and he let go. “Geesh, man. Relax.”

“You can’t tell anyone,” he insisted, jerking his head toward the far wall. “We’re not even telling her friends. We can’t afford to make it public knowledge yet.”

I gave him a crazy look. “You think I don’t know that?”

His gaze slid sideways as he rocked back on his feet. “Sorry.”

“We’ll keep this quiet and go ahead with everything as planned.” I pushed myself into a sitting position again. “No one else has to know.”

“Except Rena,” he said.

“Except Rena,” I agreed. “But good luck finding a minute alone with her, Mr. Ex-boyfriend. To her friends, you’re still
persona non grata
.”

Not that I wanted to be the one to tell her. I saw the way she busted through here with that needle, and her threat was still fresh in my mind.

“Leave that to me.” His expression softened as he turned back toward the wall, like he could see her on the other side. “And if I step out for a little air during the dance, don’t take it personally.”

I rolled my eyes and got up to straighten my clothes. “You gonna tell her this time?”

“Tell her what?” he asked, oblivious to our previous discussion.

“Uh, that you want to get serious. Remember? We talked about it on those church steps.”

His shoulders slumped, but he didn’t turn back to face me. “Oh, that. Yeah.”

This guy needed to get his shit together—and soon. “You don’t know how, do you?”

He didn’t say anything.

I blew out a sigh. “All right, Wally boy. We need to have another talk.”