Absolute Zero (21 page)

“Like I’d bring you there.”

Nate kept staring at me. “I never knew what you looked like. All we had were pictures from when you were young. We could never track Sarah and Josh down—”

“Shut up, Nate. Just stop talking. If you mean us no harm, then leave. Leave us be,” I screamed. Tears spilled. “You do
not
get to talk about my parents.” I stepped back, arms out motioning for all of us to back toward the car. “Jasmine. Georgia. Get Zach to the car. I’m coming.” My hands chilled down as I continued to step backward. I heard the rest of the gang shuffling back.

How could he do this? He knew my mom and dad? He knew me? My mind whirled. Tears stung. My stomach churned.

My heel caught the curb, and I plummeted back. I tried to stabilize myself with my other foot but gravity yanked me down. I glanced back, but in the next second, two hands held me steady.

Nate’s big, amber-flecked eyes stared down at me. He held me so gently with his hands around my back. His face only a couple inches from mine. His familiar scent washed over me.

My lungs seized. I was sucked into the pool of chocolate looking down at me. Nate couldn’t be evil, could he? It wasn’t fair.

“Get your hands off her,” Zach yelled.

Nate pulled me to a standing position, then stepped away. Zach shrugged out from Georgia’s grasp and bolted toward me. I turned and ran to him, grabbed his arms, and dragged him to the car. “Get in.” I shoved him in the front seat then hopped in back with Georgia.

I glanced out the back window. Nate stood in the middle of the road, hands in pocket, staring after us.

I tore my gaze from his and faced the front. “Jasmine. Drive.”

Chapter 28

“S
cott.” I ran from the car toward the porch of a massive log cabin, Georgia close behind.

Scott hurdled the three steps to the sidewalk and held his arms out. We both fell into them.

He gave the best hugs.

“Are you two okay?”

“Yeah.”

“And you brought Zach?” he whispered.

“Andrey almost got to him,” Jasmine said.

“Nate saved him,” Georgia said, as we turned to walk up the steps to the porch.

That stopped Scott cold. “Nate? As in your boyfriend, Nate?”

I glanced at Zach. His jaw tensed.

“Yeah,” I said. “He’s an Agent.”

“Holy shit, Mandy.” Scott looked to Jasmine.

She nodded. “Come on. I’ll tell you everything. Let’s get inside so I can turn everything on. If anyone comes, we’ll see fireworks.”

A black void surrounded the single-level, sprawling log cabin. I saw the beginnings of a plush, green lawn as we walked on the sidewalk. Long blades of grass brushed the cement. I wondered if it was a big yard, but couldn’t see anything outside the circle of light emitting from the spotlights.

We filed into the cabin. Jasmine sure enjoyed living the good life. A huge living room with cathedral ceilings lay to the right, and a massive formal dining room with a shiny mahogany table to the left. Straight ahead, I guessed, was a hallway to the kitchen and the rest of the house.

We moved forward, Georgia holding my hand and Zach trailing us. Jasmine rattled on about Nate and how she knew him, but I didn’t want to listen. It hurt too much. I dragged my feet, heavy and tired. Felt like we were right back to the night after graduation.

It totally sucked.

“Maybe Nate isn’t a bad guy,” Georgia whispered in my ear. “He saved Zach, you know, and he said he left The Center, like Jasmine did.”

I shook my head. “Doesn’t matter. We’re going to disappear anyway. We’re out of here, sis.”

“We can’t leave Zach vulnerable. Andrey will grab him if we leave.”

“We’ll figure something out.”

“I’ll leave, too,” Zach said. “I don’t want to stay here.”

I stopped and looked back at him. “What about your precious Samantha Jones? Aren’t you going to stay in Trifle and pop out lots of babies with her?”

Zach drew in a sharp breath and clenched his jaw.

“That’s what I thought.” I turned around and continued down the little hallway. The kitchen came into view. To the left was another hallway to a few rooms and to the right another hallway to more rooms. The place was massive.

“Jas. These bedrooms I see in these hallways?”

“Bathroom and then bedrooms. Three of the bedrooms have their own bathrooms though.” She pointed to her left.

“I’m going to crash. You guys figure out our next move. I’m done thinking tonight.” I let go of Georgia’s hand and chose the left hallway.

“Mandy. I’ll room with you, okay?” Georgia said. She’d followed me down the hallway. So lost in my own thoughts, I hadn’t even noticed.

“Okay. I’m going to shower. Can you see if Jas has some clothes for us? Mine are all dirty and gross.”

“Sure.” She tapped my hand then, turned around and hustled away.

God she was awesome. Just knew when to leave me alone.

“Mandy?” Zach called out my name.

But he, on the other hand, did
not
know when to leave me alone. He was seriously looking to get frostbitten.

I stopped but didn’t turn around. “I think your room is the other direction. Good night.” I moved ahead.

“Wait.”

“They’ll figure something out and we’ll talk tomorrow.”

“Please, just tell me one thing.”

I stopped again but stared at my dirty shoes.

“You didn’t open my birthday card, did you?”

“No. Shoved it in a drawer.”

“I thought you had and just didn’t respond.”

“What do you mean?” I turned.

He’d approached and stood only a foot from me. His shaggy hair brushed against his forehead. He wore gym shorts and a T-shirt. I’d probably interrupted a riveting night of watching ESPN or something.

“I’d set up a private chat room for you to meet me in to talk on your birthday at midnight. My card said I’d explain everything then.”

I glanced at my clock. “Well, it’s one a.m. I don’t have a computer, and I’m out of patience with you, Zach. Goodnight.”

“Wait. Will you let me explain?”

“What? You want to re-hash how you dumped me, and brought your new girlfriend along for the show?” I shoved him. “Were you with her while you were with me? I mean, what? What is there you could possibly say to make what you did okay?”

“She blackmailed me.”

Hadn’t expected that.

“You’re eighteen, what would she have to blackmail you with? What are we, Days of our Lives soap opera or what?”

“She saw you use your powers and threatened to go public.”

That brought me to my knees. The carpet should have made the impact on the floor softer, but it didn’t. Pain still shot up through the kneecaps into my thighs. A hand rested on my shoulder. I shrugged it off.

“After we got back from California. Remember we were at a baseball game and my Coke was warm? You chilled it?”

“Yeah.”

“She saw and then put two and two together with the slick floor joke.”

I sucked in a deep breath to chase away the light-headedness seeping in. Once to my feet, I leaned against the wall and put my hand on my forehead. “Great. I’m so freaking careless.”

He leaned against the other wall and stared at me. “I asked her not to tell, but she said she would unless I broke up with you and dated her.”

I thunked my head against the wall. “Why didn’t you just tell me, Zach? Why’d you let that little weasel play you like a freaking puppet?”

“Because there’s more.” His voice went quiet.

He picked at his fingernails, something he never did. His Adam’s apple bobbed a few times, and his jaw clenched.

“Might as well lay it on me, Zach. I mean, seriously, this night has turned out pretty sucky you know?”

“Remember I said I’d gone out on a couple dates with her a couple years ago?”

I nodded. My heart hammered my ribs. I seriously didn’t know how I survived all the sudden jolts to my heart rate. I should probably be dead from all the shocks I had gotten over the last six months. But somehow, I knew I was in for another one, in about two seconds.

“Shit,” he whispered. “Mandy, I slept with her.”

The air sucked out of my lungs. “You what?”

He faced me. “I was messed up in tenth grade. Drinking. You know, I sent those nasty pictures. I—”

“You slept with her?”

Okay, Zach and I hadn’t gotten to talking about previous boyfriends and girlfriends yet while we dated. But I never imagined Samantha Jones. I mean, he’d totally lied when he said they’d gone out a couple times.

“She said she’d tell you, too, along with going public about your powers. I knew you’d run again and that you were sick of running. And I didn’t want you to go.”

My hand gravitated to my throat. Felt like someone sucker punched my gut. “Did you—um—have you been with her since we broke up—wait—don’t answer that.” I held up my hand. “Seriously, don’t answer that. Doesn’t matter. We’re through. You’re free to do whatever you want with your body parts with whomever you want.” I whirled around, tears stinging my eyes. Why did this hurt so much?

Oh, let’s see, because Zach ripped my guts out, I found Nate, Nate was awesome, sweet, sexy, gentle—oh wait—an
Agent
who has super powers.

My life sucks.

“Mandy, I’m sorry. I—I freaked. I was scared that you’d get exposed. I didn’t know what to do.”

I faced him. “I would have figured something out. Jess and Jasmine can do computer junk that will scare the living crap out of someone and convince them to not say a word. We could have figured something out. When did she start threatening you?”

“Few weeks before school started. I told her to wait, to let me think about it. Then, on that Friday night—that—well—”

I glanced behind him and quieted my voice. “Oh gee, you mean that night I let you into my bedroom? Shared memories of my mom, shared more of myself with you?”

Tears welled in his eyes.

“You should have trusted me with this.”

“She told me, that Friday night when I drove her home, that I had to decide.”

“So, you did, and she won. And you know what? You lost me.”

“I still love you.”

Okay, so
not
what I wanted to hear right then. I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath. Yep, just like the commercial said, I needed Calgon to take me away. Far, far away.

“I can’t stand seeing you with
Nate
.”

“I’m sure you won’t be seeing that anytime soon.” My heart sank a little saying that, but it was true. He turned out to be a huge lie. Now Zach tells me he loves me. As if my life wasn’t complicated enough right now. “So, what made you decide to tell me?”

“The day before I saw you on campus eating lunch, I set up the chat room, hoping to have you meet me in there. I bought that necklace weeks ago, but then, well, when I did what I did to you, I—well—I held on to it hoping to find a way out of this thing with Samantha. So, I set up that chat room and was going to tell you everything.”

“In hopes of…”

“Us figuring a way out of it so we could be together again.”

I laughed
. Great!

“But then I saw you at the cafeteria with Nate. I could tell you two were together. I’d carried that envelope with me in case I could steal away and put it on your apartment door or give to Georgia or something.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Say we still have a chance. Maybe we can figure something out. Now with Andrey after me, I can disappear with you guys. We can be together.” His voice sounded closer.

I snapped my eyes open, but he’d already stepped across the hallway and pressed his lips against mine. Well—and his body.

He was the first guy I’d actually considered, maybe, possibly having sex with. Then he ripped my guts out and started to date my worst enemy. I should hate him, right? I should be repulsed by the way he pressed his body against mine and how amazing his mouth felt.

But my body evidently didn’t remember any of the pain he’d caused me. Or maybe his soft, sweet lips just melted my logic and it wasn’t reaching my body to tell it to turn off. To not get excited. To not tingle in those certain areas that he often triggered when he kissed me.

His tongue slid past my lips, and I responded in earnest. I tangled my hands into his hair and pulled his face closer. I drew in a deep breath through my nose and instantly remembered his scent. His electric fingers. His sweet, minty taste.

Then logic caught up.

I yanked my hands from his hair, then planted them firmly against his chest and pushed. He peeled away from my face and stumbled back, bumping into the wall across from me.

“No,” I said. I slid the back of my hand over my mouth. My chest heaved with each deep breath I took.

“Mandy. Wha—”

“Everything okay here?” Scott asked from the end of the hallway.

“Yeah. Um, Zach has some stuff to tell you about Samantha Jones. She knows about me.”

Scott slouched.

“Yell at me
after
I’ve had a shower and slept a little bit, okay?” And after my head stopped spinning, and my body cooled off. “Oh, and Zach, your room will be on the other side of the house, next to Scott’s. Got it?”

Zach stepped toward me. “I love you, Mandy. I’m going to fight for you.”

Chapter 29

T
he hot shower had felt so amazing, but I couldn’t squelch the rumbling stomach.
Stupid stomach
. I had to venture out of my room to get some food, but I so didn’t want to, because I didn’t want to see Zach.

He still loved me? Wanted me back? Technically I was single again, considering my boyfriend, Nate, was actually Josiah, a teacher at the school of Agents who killed my parents and wanted to capture me and Georgia.

My life really
was
a soap opera, wasn’t it?

“Screw Zach. I’m hungry. I’m getting something to eat.”

No way was I going to let a guy dictate what I was or wasn’t going to do. Georgia had found me some blue jeans and a red T-shirt, even a pair of flip-flops. I opened the drawers and found undies, bras, and lots of shorts, jeans, and T-shirts.