Absolute Zero (32 page)

I faced Georgia. “What do you think?”

She glanced over her shoulder for a long second, then back to me. “It’s for the best. Gary will be safe, too. It’ll be easier for everyone if we’re dead.”

Nate stared down at me with wide eyes. The flames nearby set his amber flecks twinkling. I’d only known him a couple of months, and it’d all started out as a lie. Both him lying to me about who and
what
he was, and me doing the same.

In the end, we turned out to be more connected than I could have ever imagined. Both products of The Center and both controlled by them. He broke free and he stood before me, offering to leave his new life to help me be free as well.

“I’ll take care of you, Mandy,” he said.

“Okay. I trust you.”

Chapter 43

“S
o, the blue really won’t hold a dye?” Georgia combed her fingers through my newly dyed locks.

“Nope. So, instead of blond with a blue streak, I’ve got black and blue.” I pulled a lock of hair close to my nose. “Smells nice.”

“Maybe I could get a job in a hair salon,” Georgia giggled as she ran her fingers through her fire-red hair and stood from the little table in our hotel.

“Yours blends in now that all your hair is red, though. No fair.” I slapped at her hand, but she was too quick.

The hotel’s idea of providing Continental breakfast were vending machine pastries, so tiny chocolate covered donuts served as our brunch. Drapes covered the single window in the room. A small dorm-room fridge, and a closet-sized bathroom were all that we called home at the moment. But the shower was hot and the bed was soft.

“So much for my PE exam today. I think I’m going to die without knowing the rules to racquetball,” I mumbled as I sank my teeth into my third donut. “I did always want to go to college, though.”

“Me too. But hey, think of this as a new adventure.” Georgia stood in front of the mirror putting her nose ring back in. “And let me tell you, I love that I can wear my piercing again. And now I have red hair, so maybe I’ll just paint my nails black, throw on a few chains—”

“Oh, please.”

“Get some tattoos.” She giggled.

“Georgia!”

“I was kidding on the chains thing.”

I slouched in my chair, gut rolling after that last donut. “Did we make the right choice? I mean, Scott thinks we’re dead. How horrible is that?”

She moved to the desk and hitched her hip against the edge. “Yeah. It sucks, but you know what? It’s safer, and that’s more important. He’s powerless. Vulnerable.”

I lunged onto the bed and flopped to my back. “I miss him already. Did you hear him screaming in our earpieces last night?”

“I did. Zach, too.”

My gut hollowed out.

“I’m sorry, Mandy.” She lay on the bed beside me so our shoulders touched. “Zach was freaking awesome about all this stuff. You really loved him.”

“Look what it got him, though. Mom dead. Me dead. What a freaking amazing girlfriend I was, huh?”

Georgia grabbed my hand. “All jokes aside.”

“Oh great.”

She rolled her eyes. “Seriously. Do you still love Zach? I mean, now that you know he never really wanted to break up with you. Just tried to protect you by doing so?”

“Doesn’t matter now, right? I mean, I’m dead.”

“And then there’s Nate.”

My heart swelled at the mention of his name. Just like my heart used to do when I heard Zach’s name. I drew in a deep breath. “Sweet, Nate.”

“I felt your pulse jump there in your hand, girl.” She turned her head to look at me. “You love him, don’t you?”

I nodded. “Big-time. I haven’t told him yet, though.”

“That’s okay. No need to rush.”

I squeezed her hand. “And what about Tim?”

“I’m so in love with him. I’ve never met anyone so amazing.”

“So, where will—”

The lock to the door clicked. Georgia and I both hopped to our feet.

“It’s me,” Nate said. “Everyone decent?”

“Yeah.” I stepped toward the door.

The door cracked open and Nate stuck his face in. “Hey, cutie.” He smiled, and my tummy tickled as if butterflies fluttered inside.

I pulled the door open wide.

“Look who I found wandering around,” Nate said.

Tim stepped into view, and Georgia squealed. He barreled around Nate and snatched her into his arms.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I am now.” Georgia buried her face in his neck.

Nate shut the door, then hustled to the TV and clicked it on. I sat on the edge of the bed, watching him. He surfed the channels and finally landed on one with a lady holding a microphone. Wind whipped her brown hair around as she spoke.

“It is believed that the two remains found beneath the rubble of the helicopters belong to nineteen-year-olds Amanda Smith and Georgia Kelsey.” The reporter gazed back at the smoldering machines behind her.

The sun glistened on them, and I finally got to see them. They were all stealth and mysterious during the night, but now, they were just black heaps of crispy scrap metal.

“Autopsy to confirm the identity of the remains will begin tomorrow, but eye-witness, Zachary Landry, whose mother also perished in the ordeal, confirmed he had seen the two women in the yard when the collision happened.” She looked at Zach. “Mr. Landry, tell us what you saw.”

She held the microphone to his face. He looked at her with glazed eyes. “It was dark. But I saw Mand—er—Amanda and her best friend, Georgia, goofing around out there when an explosion rained down on them. They—” He looked down and rocked from his heels to his toes, then cleared his throat. “They—um—I heard a scream and then nothing but flames.”

“What were you guys doing out here?”

“Um, we were here hanging out with Amanda’s brother. This is his girlfriend’s house.” He looked down again. “They were just out goofing around, then—” His nostrils flared. “Then—now she’s gone. My Mandy’s gone.”

Tears stung my eyes.

The reporter pulled the microphone back to her mouth. “A tragic event, these two helicopters, colliding mid-air and taking the lives of two young women. So tragic. Back to you, Andrew.”

I jumped up and shut the TV off. Seeing Zach like that ripped my guts out. What was Scott going through? Did he know we were still alive?

“Wow. So, they believe it?” Georgia said.

She sat on the bed next to Tim. “Yes. Martin’s back there, lurking around, he’ll get the report to reflect your remains. We’ll make it all work out.”

I stared at the dark blue curtains keeping out the afternoon light. The sun haloed around them trying to find any way possible into the room. We’d only driven a hundred miles from Trifle, but it felt like I was on another planet, zillions of miles away.

The only difference, I didn’t feel like an alien anymore. Nate, who was a genetic freak like me and my sister, was with me. Tim, also one of us, loved my sister and between him and Nate, they’d take care of us.

Scott would be safe, and Jasmine was there just in case. Hopefully he knew we were really alive, still. He must know. Maybe Jasmine heard us get away and told him.

“What are you thinking about over here?” Nate asked. He sat in the chair beside me and tugged my fingers.

“I miss Scott.” Tears brimmed, and I knew the dam was going to break soon.

“He’ll be fine. We’ll watch over him from afar.”

I looked at him. “We can do that?”

“Martin’s going to hover. Not everyone can up and vanish, you know? At least not at once. Too suspicious.”

“So, some day, maybe Scott and Jasmine can die and come with us?”

“Maybe.” Nate tightened his hold on my fingers and gave a little tug. “But not for quite a while, Mandy.”

“I’ve just never—” I looked at the ceiling, trying to keep the tears from spilling over. “He’s all—” The lump in my throat caught, and my voice cracked.

Nate brought my hand to his mouth and kissed my knuckles.

“He’s my brother. He’s all I’ve ever known since Mom and Dad died.” Tears finally spilled down.

Two strong arms wove around my shoulders. I rested my cheek on Nate’s chest and wrapped my arms around his waist.

“It’s my turn to take care of you, Mandy.”

Chapter 44

S
o, watching my funeral, not so much fun. It’d been a week since we died, and Martin attended our funeral with a camera. Not so sure that was a smart thing to do.

Scott was a wreck. So was Zach. Two little jars sat up on a table in a funeral home, and some dude talked about how to survive heartache, about how we’d moved on to a better place.

I looked around the dumpy hotel room. Yeah, not so much.

“I think I’ve seen enough,” I said, as I slid off the bed onto the putrid green carpet this hotel called stylish. I liked Jasmine’s taste in hotel-picking more than Nate’s.

But, he was a guy after all.

“Now that everyone bought that we’re dead, what’s next?” I asked, as I navigated toward the window I wasn’t allowed to open. Nate sat at the desk next to the TV, shutting down the computer.

“The names I got from Andrey, and from what Mrs. Landry said, looks like all the fun is in Nevada somewhere.”

“So, we’re storming the castle once again and decimating something?” I so didn’t want to do that. Didn’t do much good last time, and I just felt like crap for killing all those people.

“No. We’re going to lay low, live off the grid for a while, but keep our eyes on them,” Nate faced me from the chair.

“And we’ll try to find Lois, right?” Georgia said from across the room.

“Yep,” Tim said. “But the fact that she’s not been seen or heard of in a few weeks is somewhat concerning. She’s either really good at hiding, which makes me nervous, or, she’s no longer alive.”

“I’m not sure which scenario would be better.” Georgia tugged at her red hair. “I’ve had enough Moms popping up as Agents. Don’t need my adoptive mother doing the same.”

“I need ice cream,” I said. “Nate, feel like taking your girlfriend for a little walk?”

“Always.” He nodded toward Georgia and Tim. “You want anything?”

“Naw. We’re good here,” Georgia grinned.

Nate reached for my hand. He glanced out the door, then pulled me through.

“So, is it always going to be us looking before we go anywhere?” I twined my fingers with his.

“For a while, yes.” He smiled. “Have I said lately how much I like your black hair?”

“No.”

“I do. Looks very nice.”

“Thanks.”

“So, what’s going on? Did you really want ice cream?”

“Yes, but also, I had to get out of that room. How long are we going to stay at this hotel?”

“Tim and I talked about it last night up in our room. He last tracked Georgia’s adoptive mom to Minnesota, according to that friend of yours, Jess. Since there, there was a hit at an ATM under her married name.”

“Yeah? When?”

“Two days ago.”

“Minnesota still?”

“Yes. So. I’m thinking we can make our way there and check things out.” He stopped us at a corner traffic light and pressed the walk button. “It might be a fun road trip. Don’t you think?”

“Fun only because I’ll be with you. The rest, not so much. Going to find Georgia’s mom, who hopefully isn’t an Agent and just lucky at staying hidden, not so much.”

The afternoon sun ducked behind a cloud. The shadows over Nate’s eyes couldn’t douse the amber flakes, though. I reached up and framed his face with my hands.

“Thanks for taking care of us, Nate.”

“Always will.” He pulled me into a tight embrace. “I’ll never let anyone hurt you again, Mandy.”

That sounded like music to my ears. I wasn’t sure he could promise that, but I liked that he said it, because I really trusted that he would do anything he could for me.

“I know you won’t. Maybe instead of ice cream, we should go buy a couple of coats. It’s cold in Minnesota. You know?”

Nate squeezed me tight, then brushed his lips against mine. “We’ll keep each other warm.”

THE END…for now

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Acknowledgements

This book wouldn’t exist without the help of so many people. So a big thank you to the following: Rhonda Richardson, Lisa Hamilton, Courtney Krueger: thank you for your eagle eyes; Michele Trent, my best friend and my biggest supporter; Jeannie Ruesch, an amazing and talented cover artist.

I wanted to make a special shout out to the readers. Thank you for your support and encouragement. You are why I write. I treasure every comment, email, Facebook & Twitter post you send.

A special thanks to Brittany Hiester for coming up with the title for this frosty trilogy: Touch of Frost.

Bloggers and Reviewers: You are so special. Thank you for your hard work promoting all the authors out there. I know your time is limited, and I thank you for taking that precious time to help get my stories out there!

Thank you to my street team, The Rock Stars, for helping spread the word, beta reading and being all around rock stars: Alisha Couch, Stacey Nixon, Courtney Newton, Samantha Adams, Heather Graham, Courtney Krueger, Irayda Quezda, Jenny Bynum, Lisa Hamilton, Crystal Woodmancy, Ashleigh Gunter, Erin Rain, Tawney Bland, Christina Marie Madison, Jennifer Swiger, Katrina Whittaker, Rhianna Walker, Paula Carson, Brynna Curry, Felicia Filion, Carly Rose, Cassandra Jones, Debra Jones Wright, Ch’Kara SilverWolf, Mary Gurney.

About the Author

Originally from Minnesota, Lynn Rush (also known as Reese Monroe) currently enjoys living in the sunny Arizona desert with her husband and loveable Shetland Sheep dog, Maddux. Monroe holds a degree in psychology from Southwest Minnesota State University and a master's degree from the University of Iowa. When she’s not busy writing her next trilogy, she can be found pounding the pavement, training for her next endurance event.

Lynn is a contributing blogger at the widely popular site New Adult Alley (NAAlley.com) and has been part of the New Adult revolution for years having penned over thirty novels in the exciting new category.