Cheating Time (13 page)

That was the very reason I didn't trust his
facade. There could be a burning inferno inside Jayden and no one
would ever know. Much like he managed his body and its ability to
tolerate physical challenges, he had learned to control his
emotions in such a way that no one—
not even
those closest to him
—would ever really know what he was
thinking or how he felt.

Since I was familiar with Jayden and
Isaiah's history, I was confident that a meeting right now between
the two of them, especially if it was one where Isaiah had been
ordered to take us into custody, would end in death for either
Jayden or Isaiah. While I was sure that Jayden was the strongest
and fastest Surrogate on the planet, I wasn't willing to risk his
life on my rose-colored assumption.

I was snapped from my thoughts when Tawney
wrapped her arms around her stomach.

"Are you okay?" I whispered.

Nodding, she put her water bottle to her
mouth and tilted it. When she did, her hands shook so bad that I
was sure all of the water would spill out and onto her shirt.
Quickly and without taking a good drink, she put the bottle back
between her legs and let it rest there. Rather than let anyone see
her shaking with exhaustion, she was opting to stay dehydrated. I
couldn't imagine why. Jayden had never given her a hard time in her
life.

Hell, he'd probably even
throw her over his shoulder and carry her if she'd agree to it…
which she'd never do.

I was confident he would just leave me
behind if I couldn't keep up. Where he'd always had the patience of
a saint with Tawney, he'd demeaned and berated me at any point he
felt I was showing any sign of weakness. There'd been more than one
occasion when I'd wanted to knock his beautiful head off his
perfect shoulders.

I might not agree with President Barone's
plans for a nation of perfect people, but I couldn't deny the fact
that he'd done everything right when it came to Jayden St.
Romaine.

There were several noticeable differences
about Jayden. One thing that hadn't changed was his uniform. He'd
always worn the same black soldier fatigues, an all-purpose jacket
and pants with so many pockets I'd wondered on many occasions if
he'd actually needed a backpack.

Ignoring the fact that Jayden was apparently
going against Barone—
Only because Dad ordered
it
, I quickly reminded myself—Jayden was military to the
core and usually kept his hair shaved into a close crew cut. Today,
his hair was longer on the top than I'd ever seen it. If I'd been
asked my opinion, I'd confess that I liked the length. The military
cut coupled with his inflexibility made him too harsh. The new
longer bangs coming nearly down into his Surrogate jade-green eyes
made him heart-stopping.

Surrogates' telltale sign was their
unnaturally green but amazingly beautiful eyes. Eye color and
height were the only visible traits both Jayden and Isaiah shared.
Where Jayden was dark-haired and dark-skinned, Isaiah was
blond-haired and bronze-skinned. Both were stunning, but my
preferences were bundled up into a nice, neat package with Jayden
St. Romaine.

Dammit! Why do I keep
thinking about Jayden like he's my boyfriend… like I want him as a
boyfriend?

I wasn't sure I'd fixated this much on him
when I'd actually had a crush on him. I assumed my every thought
was of Jayden for two reasons. First, we were finally back
together, and second, it was a coping mechanism meant to keep me
from focusing too hard on my parents and what they were going
through.

With those theories bouncing through my
mind, the scientist in me perked up and began taking mental notes
for future experiments.

I wonder how much
stress a normally functional person could undergo before they
crack? I'll need to maintain a daily journal describing my emotions
every single day so that some objective party in the future can
analyze the person I was on day one (today) with the person I
become after all of this is over,
I thought
rationally.

In the planning stages of my experiment, I
knew I'd need to describe my feelings, my thoughts, my behaviors,
and my physical condition. I didn't yet have my research journal,
but I was too excited about the experiment to let that stop me.

Feelings. My
feelings.

I was understandably anxious.

Thoughts.

My thoughts were all over the place. One
minute, I was in the here and now. The next, I was remembering all
of the steps that led us to the here and now.

Behaviors.

I was committed to doing whatever I had to
do whenever I had to do it in order to follow Dad's orders and
hopefully see our family back together soon.

Physical.

I was doing a good job of keeping up with
Jayden during our hike until we hit the six-hour mark without food,
water, or rest. Then I began to slowly but surely shut down.

Finished with today's journal entry (still
needing to write it down), I nodded my head in satisfaction. I was
glad to have found something I could focus some time and attention
on besides this run for our lives.

Interrupting my thoughts, Jayden squatted
near me. "You should be doing a lot less musing and smiling to
yourself and a lot more resting because we're not stopping again
until dark."

I slanted my eyes his way.

"Are you suggesting I can't think?"

Jayden's look was pointed. "Oh, I'm not
saying that… if your thoughts stay focused on all the survival
training you've endured and you come up with ingenious ways for us
to stay cool during the day, warm at night, dry during the rain,
hydrated, nourished—"

I put my hand up. "I got it. The good news
is that even the most controlling person in the world—i.e.
you—can't control someone's thoughts."

I wrinkled my nose and almost stuck my
tongue out at Jayden but thought better of it at the last minute
because Tawney was watching us intently.

I promised Dad I'd help
Jayden. Turning into a petulant child is not what he'd want me to
do.

I could have sworn I saw Jayden's lip twitch
in amusement before he turned away from me and went back to
Surrogate Soldier guard duty. I wanted to forget my earlier promise
to my father, pick up my empty water bottle, and lunge it at his
beautiful head.

Thirty minutes to the second after we'd
begun our break, Jayden said, "We need to get back on the move. Put
your empty water bottle in your backpack. When we come to the next
brook, we'll refill them."

I noticed that now that they were empty, he
didn't have a problem with us carrying the bottles in our packs. I
wondered if he'd take them back from us once they were full
again.

Probably. He has to take
the brunt of everyone's load or he's not happy.

I didn't have to ask about the safety of
drinking water from the brooks. I knew from our survival outings
that in our backpacks there were enough iodine packs and possibly
even nutrients to keep us alive in these woods for weeks even if we
never killed the first animal or came across the first water
source. The problem was taste was not a consideration when it came
to our nutrients. It was whatever packed the most protein in the
smallest package. It would be like eating cardboard, but we'd do it
if we had to.

When I stood, the muscles in my legs sang
some serious protest. As much as I hated to admit it, Jayden had
been right. I should have been doing physical training while I was
in the lab with Mom. Even with everything I'd been doing, it just
wasn't enough.

At least, not enough to
keep up with Mr. Superhuman.

Refusing to make that confession to Jayden,
I sucked in a deep, determined breath, walked over to Gran, and put
my hand out so I could help him up. Gran may have been in his late
seventies, but he was in great shape. Because he'd exercised every
day of his life and kept himself up, he'd been able to take every
single step that day without the first complaint. Still, he looked
tired.

"Gran, do you need me to carry your backpack
for you? I will."

Gran, a man of few words, spoke when he had
something important to say. During our good-byes, the only words
he'd uttered were those to my mother, and they were,
I love you, my dear. I love you to the moon
and back and until my last breath.
It was quite nearly
my undoing.

"I may be an old man, but I can still carry
my load," he said grumpily.

Grumpy was something I could deal with
because I knew exactly how to brighten his mood. I leaned up and
kissed him on his soft cheek, noticing it was more sunken than
normal.

Just as I'd suspected, he softened, smiled
back at me, and chuckled tiredly.

"Tawney, what about you? Can I carry your
backpack for you? Mine feels like it barely weighs anything," I
lied, shaking it as if that were all the proof she needed to see it
was light.

I didn't mention the other backpack that
included my personal belongings because everything in it was
considered
nice-to-haves
. If it
were necessary, I'd begrudgingly lighten my load and leave all
traces of it deep in this forest.

"I got this, Carlie. Besides, you already
have two packs. What's in the one you packed?" she asked, staring
at it curiously.

I smiled. "I knew Mom would only pack the
basic necessities so I had a backpack hidden away that had all of
the things I considered essentials."

Tawney eyes widened enviously. "I wish I'd
have thought to do that. What all did you take?"

"My reader, a journal, my computer, and some
pictures," I replied quietly so Jayden wouldn't be irritated at me
for talking too much.

"After we get where we're going, I might
borrow the reader, if you don't mind. I left mine back at the
farm."

I hugged her shoulder. "You can borrow it
anytime. I loaded it for both of us," I shared.

Interrupting us, Jayden, who was suddenly
right next to us, said, "Are you two ready to get moving or do we
need to stand here gabbing a little longer?"

Tawney's cheeks flushed, and for the
hundredth time since I'd promised to be his loyal soldier, I wanted
to jump on his back like a wild banshee and squeeze his neck until
he lost consciousness. He knew how easily embarrassed Tawney was.
He also knew that she worshiped the ground he walked upon. It was
one thing for him to chastise me. It was another for him to give
Tawney a hard time.

Before I could tell him what I thought of
him, he was walking in the direction we'd been traveling all day,
and Tawney and Gran were obediently following behind him. Not
wanting to be outdone in the loyal soldier compartment, I got over
myself and followed behind all of them just like I'd been doing all
day long.

Man, can he be an
ass?

I trailed behind our group just like I had
all day. I wasn't following them because I couldn't keep up.
Actually, after our break and the full bottle of water, I was
refreshed in a way I wouldn't have thought possible before we
stopped.

The real reason I was following behind was
so I could cover our tracks. Every time I saw the tiniest clue left
by Tawney or Gran (because Jayden would never leave anything that
would give him away), I'd take a few seconds to cover it with
leaves or a branch or something that would make it impossible for
Isaiah and his team to track us.

Jayden's pace continued, brisk and steady
until late afternoon. When he finally slowed, we were at the bottom
of one of the gentle rolling hills and tucked beneath a tight
grouping of pine trees. Near the area, there were a few fallen
trees that could be used to lean against while sitting by the
fire.

If Jayden allows us to
have a fire.

I wanted nothing more than to curl up under
one of those trees and sleep until tomorrow. Rest wasn't an option.
Not for me. Not yet.
Gran, on the
other hand, had gone as far as he could go. As a matter of
priority, I got him settled next to one of the logs and gave him a
kiss on his soft, wispy grey hair.

"Tawney, keep an eye on him. I'm going
hunting with Jayden."

"'Kay," she murmured.

Her voice was so quiet and small that it
immediately caught my attention. I turned her way and studied her
in much the way Jayden had when we took our earlier break. Like me,
she'd been training with Dad for months. Theoretically, she should
be nearly as in shape as me, meaning she shouldn't be so pale and
she shouldn't look like she was about to pass out.

After seeing how exhausted she was, I was
glad I'd asked her to watch Gran. There was no way she'd be able to
do anything more.
Not today.