Cheating Time (26 page)

I stared at him and willed him to hear what
my heart was screaming.

I need you now.

I want you to stay with
me.

He ignored me and left me standing alone
with Thorne. I'd never resented my parents more than I did now.
Arranged marriages were not commonplace within the borders of our
nation. I couldn't imagine why Thorne's and my parents had allowed
Barone to exert his will over them like that.

This had nothing to do with Thorne. He was
nice enough. The problem was I'd not been given any choice.

And he wasn't
Jayden.

After giving him a glare that would have
sliced through a lesser person, I turned my back on Thorne and
climbed back into the cot where I'd been sleeping for the last
three days.

He called my name a few times before giving
up and heading back to his desk and popping up a three-dimensional
image that allowed me the opportunity to see the reverse image of
what he was looking at.

For the next hour, he studied advanced
pathophysiology and quizzed himself on disease treatments. I
pretended to sleep but actually found the game enjoyable since I
had every intention of becoming a physician at some point in my
life. I was amazed at all the information Mom and Gran had
instilled in me throughout my life. I got more of the quizzes right
than Thorne. Not only that, but I was able to answer them quicker
than him, and he was already a doctor-in-training.

When a tired Rorie made her way into the
tent an hour later, I felt guilty for not going to help her. It was
obvious she'd been tasked with cooking breakfast, lunch, and supper
for this entire camp, and while that might not be a horrible job,
she'd also been tasked with cleaning all of the dishes.

Tomorrow, that would change. I refused to
let her kill herself cooking and cleaning without help and then
being hung out to dry when she accidentally left the kitchen open.
I wondered if any of these assholes thought about taking a few
minutes to check to make sure the kitchen got locked up after she
finished cleaning it.

It seems like the least
they could do.

"Good night, Thorne. I love you," Rorie said
after kicking off her shoes and crawling into her bed.

Thorne walked over to her bed and tucked her
in like she was a little girl before kissing her forehead. "Good
night, sissy. I love you, too," he whispered sweetly.

It was with that satisfied grin on her face
that she fell fast asleep within minutes of laying down her head.
It was further confirmation that she was beyond exhausted, and all
the proof I needed to solidify my plan to make sure she had all the
help she needed while I was around.

After Rorie was asleep and because Thorne
thought I was also, he walked to the door of the tent, staring back
before he left. I wasn't sure where he was going, but I hoped he'd
be gone for a while because I wanted to use his computer to contact
Mom.

We have lots to talk
about. Especially this marriage arrangement. I need to know what
the hell that's about. It's not something I'd have ever thought Mom
would've done to me.

Quicker than I would have thought possible
given the way my muscles still ached from the bruising of the snake
poison, I threw off my covers and jumped out of the bed. I had no
idea how lightly Rorie slept. I only knew if she woke and found me
touching her brother's computer, she'd probably yell loud enough to
alert everyone in the camp to what I was doing.

I opened a tab separate from the one Thorne
had been using and began a secure instant communication message
with Mom, Dad, Gran, and Tawney. I wanted to check on all of them
and didn't have time to query them individually.

Me:
I'm alive and well at a MediTech
infirmary. Jayden is with me.

It took a few minutes before I got any
response at all. When one came, it was only from Mom and Dad.

Mom:
My God, Carlie! We've been so
worried. We got word you were injured. I've been monitoring your
vitals through your MicroPharm and using it to adjust your antidote
and pain medication.

Dad:
When did Jayden arrive?

Me:
A few hours ago. He was
dehydrated and near exhaustion. He's been taken care of and is now
sleeping.

Mom:
According to his MicroPharm,
he's not sleeping, or he's not sleeping well.

Me:
He was tired when he left me so
I'm sure he's sleeping. He might just be having bad dreams.

Mom:
You're doing a lot better,
sweetie. What happened? How did you get injected with so much
venom?

Me:
The short story is there was a
snake near Tawney. I tried to intervene and found out she was
actually sitting near a bed of snakes. They attacked me the instant
I pulled her away. The rest is history.

Mom:
Jayden got bitten also, but he
didn't have nearly as much venom in his system as you.

Dad:
I want you to stay where you
are. We're having a MediChopper flown there to pick you and Jayden
up within the next few days. From there, you'll be taken to the
preparatory academy. There's no more running for you or Jayden.

Me:
Where's Gran and Tawney?

Mom:
They're where they need to
be.

Me:
Did you know Tawney's dying?

It took a long time for any response. I
wondered if I'd lost them. Finally, a message popped up, and with
it, I felt my parents' grief. For them, losing Tawney was akin to
loosing their own child. She was their niece, and they'd raised her
for the last eight years.

Mom:
Yes.

Dad:
Yes.

Again, there was a pause that told me that
they were trying to soften the blow.

Mom:
The house where they're going is
one where Tawney will be free to spend the rest of her days sitting
in a hammock in the top of a tree house, reading, and dreaming of
her knight in shining armor. Gran will make sure of that,
Carlie.

Dad:
Don't put your life or Jayden's
life in danger searching for them. We'll stay in touch and let you
know the minute anything happens.

Me:
Will you let me know if anything
happens to either of you? I'm just as worried about what your life
is like now that you are back at the capital.

Fortunately for me, Dad was a security
junkie. There was nothing I could ever send him that anyone would
ever be able to decipher. He encrypted every message coming and
going from our messaging accounts to the point where they looked
more like hieroglyphics than words by the time they made it
anywhere but where they were supposed to go.

Dad:
Your mother is back at the lab
and doing exactly what Barone needs her to do. I'm stationed as
security so I can watch over her morning, noon, and night. That's
what you need to know.

Mom:
Our biggest concern is you. I
need you to promise me you'll do exactly as we've asked. Go to the
academy and study to be a doctor so you can come to work with me. I
need your help.

My eyes watered.

Me:
I will.

Mom:
I know what the MicroPharm says,
but I want to hear from you. Are you okay with all of this?

My eyes watered more.

Me:
I miss all of you terribly.

Mom:
We miss you, too.

Me:
Oh… I forgot to tell you… I'm
under the care of Thorne Angleton. Is there anything the two of you
forgot to share with me?

Dad:
It sounds like you know the most
important thing. The rest is a conversation that needs to be face
to face. Right now, you must understand that Jayden's there to
protect you. Don't make his job any more difficult than it already
is. After you travel to the academy, your mother and I will come
see you and explain everything. I promise.

Hearing from my parents had deflated any
sort of anger I'd had over the marriage agreement. Right now, I was
just glad they were safe.

Me:
Okay. I love you both and will
contact you as soon as I'm at school. Then I need to see you. We
need to talk.

Mom:
We will. We love you.

Dad:
I love you and Jayden.

Dad may have been a big military man, but
apparently, he had no qualms about telling Jayden how much he loved
him.

You gotta love that
about a man,
I thought, smiling.

I wondered if he'd feel the same way if he
knew I was making out with Jayden every chance possible. I got the
distinct impression Dad was okay with Jayden because he thought my
virginity was safe with his Surrogate Soldier. I wasn't so
sure.

"You know… I would have let you contact your
parents if you'd asked," Thorne said, standing at the door of the
tent.

I jumped out of his chair, cursing under my
breath while I wondered just how long he'd been there, how much of
the back and forth with my parents he'd witnessed.

"N-no biggie. I woke up and saw you weren't
using it so I thought I'd try contacting them," I said. My voice
was a shaky as my lies and my hands. "I hope you don't mind."

"I don't mind at all," he said, walking
toward his desk.

As he studied me, I reached my finger up,
tapped on the corner of the three-dimensional, lithographic image,
and closed it down, effectively preventing him from reading the
messages or contacting either of my parents via Dad's secured
route. When the electric blue of my parents' instant messages
blurred and disappeared, I felt lonely and lost.
Again.
I'd just talked to them, but I missed them
more than ever.

I backed away from Thorne's desk. He put up
his hands and said, "I'm not going to hurt you. I just told you if
you'd asked, I'd have let you use the computer. Forgive me for not
realizing you needed to contact your parents sooner. You must think
I'm a complete shit."

I shook my head. "No. So far, I think you're
anything but a complete shit. Rorie loves you too much for me to
think too poorly of you."

Thorne looked over his shoulder and toward
his sister before saying, "The problem is… she never sees the awful
things in anyone… including me. Sometimes, I think the world would
be better off if everyone had her blind faith in mankind. Other
times, I think the human race would be extinct if we all trusted as
unconditionally as she does."

"I wish I were more like her. I could use a
little more unconditional trust in my life," I mused.

"It seems to me you have that with
Jayden."

I nodded slowly and bit my lip. "We bicker
like brothers and sisters, but I trust him with my life. That comes
from years of tests, ones you don't even know you're giving they're
administered so subconsciously."

Thorne cocked his head to the side. "How do
you mean?"

I laughed and it was more self-depreciating
than I'd planned. "I don't know how to explain it without sounding
more jaded and bitter than a girl my age should."

Thorne leaned on the edge of his desk while
waving a hand at his chair, suggesting I sit back down. I did.

"Well… first, there's longevity. He's been
with me for more years than I can remember. He's proven time and
time again to my family and me that he's willing to stick around.
So he's passed the longevity test with flying colors."

Thorne nodded as if he could understand the
importance time played in a relationship.

"Then there's loyalty. Jayden's never once
betrayed my family. There were opportunities for him to improve his
standing under Barone. All he had to do was betray my parents. He's
never once considered it."