Contractor (22 page)

all extracted at the same time, it would be

truly catastrophic. There had to be wizards

in the area fighting hard to keep them alive.

He was faster, now, and stronger. Three

months of summer had forced him to reach a

new level. But the fact was that Aplington

was small potatoes. If he was careful, he

could support his might-be-allies and kill

some of the Vorid from the shadows.

Daniel went back to the room. He

carefully scooted the armor-box far under the

bunk bed, then started to unpack his clothes.

It looked like Jack had already claimed top

bunk, but Daniel didn’t really care that much.

Xik’s promise had finally come in full—he

barely needed a half hour of sleep each night.

He could even go several days without and

not really feel a difference.

Jack looked up from his desk. "Want

help with anything?"

"I got it." As he started leveling T-shirts into his dresser, Daniel saw Jack’s

backpack. It was covered with pins and

stickers, many of them with foreign text.

"You collect those or something?"

"Yeah. I’ve traveled a lot. They’re from

all over the place." Jack watched him unpack

his game console. "Play video games much?"

"I’m not insane about it, but I like a good

RPG."

"Any favorites?"

Daniel told him, and they were off to the

races. Jack was a serious gamer; he went on

and on comparing stories and graphics and

characters. Daniel let him dork out and

started to shove his socks in the top drawer,

ignoring most of the details. Just when he

thought things were going good.

Tom’s words came back to him.
You

can come by the club whenever.

His roommate might be a little nerdy,

but so far, he was a nice guy, which beat out

a lot of other things by a longshot. Maybe he

shouldn’t write him off so quickly.

The past two months had been an

exercise in both his powers and reflection.

Maybe it was because of what had happened

to Mrs. Faldey. Maybe it was because he felt

like he had his balls taped back on after he

killed those extractors. But he’d done a lot of

thinking.

Daniel had convinced himself he didn’t

want any part of high school drama, but the

loneliness grated. Now he was in college. If

being a contractor had taught him anything, it

was that the world would only change if he

moved it.

Daniel started arranging socks in his top

drawer and made an effort to participate in

the conversation. He successfully steered it

away from games and back toward travel.

He’d never been out of the states, but it

seemed like Jack had been everywhere.

Every sticker and pin had a story—France,

Italy, Egypt, Japan, China. Jack was a

worldly sorta guy.

Daniel glanced at the clock. "Hey,

Jack?"

"What’s up?"

"I’m starving. Feel like finding the

dining hall?"

Jack stood. "Read my mind."

"You know what? Let’s knock on some

doors."

"What do you mean?"

Daniel threw an orange hoodie around

his shoulders and zipped it up. "No time like

the present to introduce ourselves. Let’s

round up some people from the dorm."

"…yeah. Good plan."

Daniel looked at him. "You sound super

excited about it, too."

"I’m kinda shy, to be honest." Jack

scratched the back of his neck. "People

aren’t my thing."

Daniel felt more camaraderie with him

in that moment than in the previous hour of

small talk. "Same here. I basically had no

friends, actually."

Jack frowned at him. "Really? I

wouldn’t have guessed that in a million

years."

"It was all just…" Daniel waved a hand.

"Too high school?" Jack offered.

"Exactly. But that’s the thing. I’m done

with that. That was then, this is now, and this

is level two. You in?"

"Yeah." Jack offered his hand.

"Definitely." Daniel grabbed it and tugged

him into a slap on the back. Jack grunted. "If

you don’t kill me first."

"Don’t know my own strength."

Daniel’s plan worked even better than

he thought it would. Every other guy on their

floor was in the exact same position—just

moved in, relatively friendless, and

wondering when they were going to eat. In

about five minutes, they had a posse twelve

men strong. They joked their way across

campus, taking in a few of the buildings

eyeing a few groups of girls.

The cafeteria was a sleek, window-

lined space looking out onto the campus

grounds between two other dorms. Along

one wall was a buffet set in front of a

kitchen. They loaded up food on trays and

dragged two tables together so they could all

sit in one spot.

Daniel, being the instigator, was

somewhat the center of attention—not really

for doing anything, but because he’d

introduced himself to all of them, he was the

safest to ask questions about. And he ended

up talking, a lot.

It had been a long time since he’d done

that. It was strangely easy. When he smiled,

it felt natural. When he laughed, it felt good.

Like putting on his favorite hat. Riding a

bike.

There was something that had been

hanging on him. Something heavy. Something

dark. But for some reason, he couldn’t quite

feel it like he used to. He could laugh, and

forget about it.

Jack was being quiet, so Daniel made an

effort to include him, bringing up the fact that

he was well traveled. He got more animated

after that, telling a story from when he

traveled the Rhine on a trip to Germany. It

seemed as long as the topic was palatable to

his tastes, he was fine.

Someone at the end of the table waved

his hand toward the entrance. "Hey, hey, it’s

them!"

They all jostled in their chairs to get a

look. The rest of the dining hall quieted. The

blonde duchess and her red-haired

companion had made their return. Daniel’s

table not-so-subtly watched their progress

through the room until they both settled at a

spot off near the windows. Daniel noted

another guard posted at the entrance, keeping

watch. She must be pretty important to

warrant all the security. Maybe related to a

senator?

"Gentlemen!" Daniel leaned into the

table, scanning the faces of his new friends.

"There can be only one."

Everyone laughed, and they immediately

fell into debate on the best method of

approach. A few others had seen them come

in, but no one knew their names as of yet.

Even as they spoke, a group of girls sat down

with the two women. That just added fuel to

the fire.

"She has got to be one of the hottest girls

on campus," Mark said. He lived across the

hall from Daniel and Jack. His straight black

hair was styled in a bowl cut. "I would do

terrible things to that woman."

"Meh," Jack said. "I’ve had better."

"Yeah, sure."

"Was that your first wet dream?"

Jack grinned. "I think the brunette that

sat down after is gorgeous."

Mark’s roommate, Jensen, propped his

elbow on the table. He had biceps the size of

Daniel’s thighs. The rest of him was just as

stocky. "Blondie’s hot, but she looks like

she’ll cut your dick off."

"You can screw crazy," Mark said.

"You just have to make sure you can see

what her hands are doing."

"I didn’t say I wouldn’t."

"You have fun with that," Mark said.

"I’m not risking the family jewels."

"No great loss," someone else said. "Go out with a bang."

"More like a squelch."

"Ugh, dude," Mark said. "I’m eating. I don’t want that visual right now."

"What about you?" Jack asked Daniel.

"Which one?"

"Mmm…" Everyone waited as Daniel

considered. "I dunno. I’ve got a pretty high

bar."

"Uh-huh," Jensen said. "Like you

wouldn’t fuck her brains out if you had half

the chance."

"The blonde’s a 10, no doubt about it,"

Daniel said. "But I like all my parts where

they are, thanks. Besides. I’ve got a thing for

redheads."

"May the best man win!" someone

shouted.

Daniel felt the carnal urge to clank his

soda with everyone like a Viking in a mead

hall. He kept his instincts in check and took a

sip, but his eyes wandered back to the girl’s

table.

The redhead had something the other girl

lacked. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

She felt…almost familiar. Not in the sense

that he knew her, but she felt like something

he’d felt before.

Jack frowned at him. "Dan, you ok?"

"Huh? Yeah, why?"

"You just had this look on your face for

a while."

Daniel sucked in a breath and rolled his

shoulders. "Oh, just thinking." He raised an eyebrow. "Everybody better get in line.

They’re already under attack."

Everyone leaned over. Two guys about

twice Daniel’s size were leaning casually on

the table, obviously flirting. Some of the

girls were responding in kind—some. The

redhead kept her eyes on her food. The

blonde hadn’t even acknowledged their

presence. One of the guys casually let his

arm fall on her shoulder.

The kid screamed. His hand recoiled.

Confused murmuring rolled over the room as

people strained to see what was going on.

If Daniel’s eyesight wasn’t improved, he

might have missed it. The blonde had

casually reached up and snapped the guy’s

finger in two. The only person that looked

nonplussed was the redhead.

The blonde sensed his gaze. Daniel

realized he was smiling at her. He gave her a

big wink. She narrowed her eyes, then

looked away. The two guys wormed their

way out of the dining hall, one still sniveling.

"What the shit?" Jensen asked the air.

"You guys didn’t see it, huh?" Daniel

shoved another bite of pasta in his mouth,

chewed, and swallowed.

"See what?" Jack prompted.

"The duchess broke that guy’s finger like

a twig."

"What?"

"No way."

"How do you know?"

"Karate since I was three," Daniel lied

smoothly. "I know a move when I see one."

"Damn." Mark brushed his bowl-cut

back over his ears. "Why, though?"

"As far as I could tell, it was just for

touching her," Daniel said. "Not worth the

pain, my friends."

"Shows what you know." Jensen jabbed

his fork into his plate. "Crazies are the best

in bed."

"Are crazies now a category of

women?" Mark asked.

"They’ve been a category. Get with the

times."

Daniel’s nickname of duchess caught on

like wildfire. He was hearing it from people

he didn’t know before the day was over.

****

"The first test is two weeks from today!"

the professor called out. "Study your logs!

Pre-calculus quiz is this Monday!"

The professor’s dismissal initiated a

familiar ritual—the rustle of bags, the metal

clicks of buttons and zippers, the flap of

notebooks as a hundred students packed up

their things. Daniel sat in the back in

Calculus; that made it a lot easier to get out

of the huge lecture hall. And do whatever he

felt like without being noticed.

He’d already taken AP Calculus in high

school. So far, he hadn’t bothered taking

notes, because for the whole first week their

professor had been teaching pre-calculus.

Daniel almost didn’t go after the third day,

but he felt guilty about spending all that

money and not even showing up.

More importantly, Eleanor Astor and

her friend Rachel Ashworth had the same

section as him. It was a pleasure just to

watch them walk into the hall.

Daniel slung his backpack over his

shoulder and paused at the door. Being a

loner for so long, he’d gotten a bit used to

observing people. And it was one of life’s

small pleasures to observe something that

was very good looking.

Eleanor glanced his way. After their

staring contest back in the cafeteria, she

seemed to be somewhat aware of him. He

hadn’t actually talked to either of them yet;

he couldn’t think of a pretext that wouldn’t

get him a cold shoulder. Daniel awarded her

attention with a smile and a little wave, then

walked out of the hall.

He liked the Northeastern campus. It felt

very cutting-edge. Buildings of glass and

brick and steel interchanged with small

gardens and paved squares. He liked the

whole of Boston, really. The streets were

always moving, always crowded. The

subways sang along rusty brown tracks.

Homes and shops were packed together in

warm stacks of brick. Trees lined the

sidewalks.