Countdown (23 page)

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS AFTER ELLIS ENTERprises’ computer system had been breached by an imaginative and vengeful hacker, I stood on a train platform with Rogan and his father. No one else was there. It was a secret location, known only to the right people.
I guess I was one of those people now—or, at least, I
knew
the right people.
I crossed my arms and waited. Rogan stood silently next to me with Gareth to his right.
The shuttle that would start my journey to the Colony and the Isis Institute would be here in a couple of minutes.
After the lights had come back on yesterday, it had only been a few minutes before security had arrived in the subbasement room. Gareth had immediately been taken to the hospital. So had Rogan. Both had been treated for serious injuries. At this time, it was deemed too dangerous to remove their implants. Jonathan had been the expert on that, and no one else had wanted to risk immediate removal.
I had also been treated for minor injuries, including my sprained ankle. Whatever they’d used to rapid-heal my bullet wound, they’d used again. Also, any cuts, scrapes or bruises were only a memory now. I was as good as new. Better than new, really.
Rogan and I hadn’t had a single moment alone together.
Ellis Enterprises was in a major upheaval. An investigation was already underway of who could and could not be trusted.
It would take a lot of time and a lot of money to rebuild Ellis Enterprises, especially now that it would cease its technologybased research program. Gareth had decided to use his massive fortune exclusively to fund medical research. Not quite as sexy as shiny new computers, or as glamorous as…well, his TV show wasn’t glamorous at all, was it? Bottom line, medical research was much more beneficial to mankind.
Both Gareth and Rogan seemed single-minded in their quest to right their wrongs—Rogan of his spoiled, drug-filled days before he went to juvie, and Gareth of the two years he’d spent as a prisoner in his own body.
Gareth had confirmed with the Iris Institute that I would be on my way, and he’d ensured that someone from the school would be waiting at the other end to greet me. Tuition, board, meals, even a generous spending allowance—all covered by Gareth Ellis, my generous new benefactor. I didn’t have to worry about a thing. I was ready to start a new chapter in my life, even though I was nervous, too. I had to remember to keep an open mind about it. No empath pun intended.
Rogan wasn’t coming with me. He would be too busy helping his father rebuild everything they’d lost—both personally and professionally.
I totally understood.
Still, tears stung the backs of my eyes as I stood on the platform waiting for the shuttle, a big fake smile plastered on my face.
My new life was about to begin.
Wouldn’t be long now.
I should be happy. This is what I’d always wanted.
I saw the shuttle in the distance as it made its way toward us along the track. I’d heard that the journey to the Colony took several days.
I could use that time to try to forget Rogan.
I totally should have predicted it. I was just a street thief. Well, a
reformed
street thief. Rogan was the son of a powerful billionaire who’d had a bit of an unfortunate glitch in his life.
I’d been a part of that glitch.
The glitch had been resolved.
I didn’t expect anything from him. I wouldn’t ask him to come with me or even to stay in touch. That simply wasn’t me.
But I would miss him so much. It felt as if my heart was splintering in my chest just thinking about it.
Don’t look at him,
I told myself, but I couldn’t help it.
The shuttle came to a slow stop right next to me.
“Thank you so much for everything. Really,” I mumbled, before moving toward the shuttle door.
I felt a hand on my arm. It was Rogan.
“Hey.” Our gazes locked. “I hope you have a safe trip.”
“Thanks.” My smile was as natural as I could make it. “I guess this is goodbye, huh?”
“I guess so.”
Gareth extended his hand to me. I took it, and he pulled me into an embrace. I stiffened momentarily, before I relaxed into it. “Thank you, Kira. Thank you for everything you’ve done. For me and for my son.”
“You’re welcome.” I pulled back to look into his eyes. This Gareth looked the same as the other, but it was like night and day. This one might still be a ruthless billionaire when needed, but he wasn’t evil. And he’d suffered enough to want to change his former ways.
I turned to Rogan. His jaw was tense. He wore black pants and a blue turtleneck that fit him perfectly and made his ocean-colored eyes stand out that much more. The clothes had probably been made specially for him and likely cost a fortune. At first glance, he looked every bit the part of the rich kid I knew he was. Except for that scar. That scar belonged to the Rogan I’d met, not having any idea about his true story.
“I’ll miss you,” I said, fighting my tears with every ounce of strength I possessed. Damn it. So much for being all cool and collected.
“I’ll miss you, too.” He said nothing about staying in touch, visiting me sometime, or any sort of contact. I didn’t even have his email address.
It was over. I knew when to take the hint.
“Bye.” Hoping they didn’t hear the sob behind the word, I turned away and slipped onto the shuttle. The conductor took my ticket, and I walked blindly down the aisle to my seat. I didn’t have any luggage. A wife of one of the Ellis employees was my size, and she’d brought me some clothes to wear at the hospital. I would buy new stuff when I arrived at my destination.
New clothes for my new life.
I took in a breath and focused on my future—my bright and shiny future. New school, new friends, a new life, all waiting for me to arrive.
It was all working out for the best. I mean, how could I complain about anything? I’d gotten what I wanted most in the world.
End of story.
The shuttle pulled away from the station and slowly gathered speed.
I turned to look at the platform one last time, but nobody was standing there anymore.
I leaned my head against the cool glass.
A moment later, somebody took the seat next to me. I saw his ref lection in the glass before I turned to stare at him with shock.
“Rogan—”
He held up a hand to stop me. “You know, it’s the strangest thing.”
“What are you
doing
here?”
“Everything’s been destroyed. There’s a ton of work to do, and I told my father I’d help him every step of the way…and I have every intention of doing just that, but…”
“But what?”
He scratched the back of his head, his expression pensive. “It’s the implants.”
“The…the implants?”
“The ones that Jonathan removed.”
I still stared at him blankly. “You’re going to have to help me out a little more than that.”
Rogan shook his head and frowned, bringing a finger up to his temple. “When they were in our heads, we couldn’t go more than ninety feet apart or we’d die.”
“That’s right.”
“Well, now that they’re out, I still feel like I shouldn’t be more than ninety feet away from you or I
might
die. Isn’t that strange?”
A warmth began to spread quickly through me with every word he spoke. “That
is
strange.”
He shrugged. “So that’s why I’m here. I really don’t like feeling that way. It’s extremely unpleasant.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” I said solemnly. A smile was trying very hard to burst free on my face.
“Anyway…” He leaned back in his seat. “I can still help my father, but I’ll do it from the Colony. I want to take a few classes at the university.”
“I think that’s a great idea.”
“And, of course, if you get any free time from this institute of yours, I suppose we could get together. Frequently. I’m thinking, like, every day. At least.”
“I have a feeling that could be arranged.” I couldn’t stop looking at him, couldn’t stop the happiness from welling inside me—and I didn’t want to stop it. This was all too amazing for words.
He held my gaze. “For a moment there, I thought I’d lost you forever.”
“It’s kind of hard to lose somebody who’s never more than ninety feet away.”
“That’s
exactly
what I was thinking.”
I shrugged. “I am psychic, you know.”
“I know. I definitely know.” He reached for my hand. “By the way, there’s another reason my father gave me the okay to get on the shuttle with you.”
“What?”
He shrugged, and a smile tugged at his lips. “It’s my birthday present.”
I entwined my fingers with his as the shuttle began making its way toward a brand-new life.
“Happy birthday, Rogan.”

* * * * *

COUNTDOWN
STARTED ITS LIFE IN 2008, WHEN it was originally published under the same title but a different pen name. A couple years ago when I’d gotten my rights back to it, Leah Hultenschmidt, who edited the original version, mentioned that with a bit of rewriting it would make an awesome young adult novel—so thank you, Leah, for the awesome suggestion.

Natashya Wilson, my fabulous editor at Harlequin TEEN, agreed—thank you, Natashya! I sat myself down and set about making Kira and Rogan teenagers forced to play my delightfully nasty little game of
Countdown
. Thanks also to Annie Stone, who helped at the line edit stage to smooth out a few remaining rough edges and “huh?” moments. Thanks to the entire team at Harlequin TEEN who’ve allowed this project to come to fruition. And thanks, as always, to my kickass agent Jim McCarthy, who didn’t even blink when I said I wanted to relaunch this book for a teen audience. Although, maybe he
did
blink. You can’t really tell these things over email. Go, team!

And last but
never
least, to my amazing readers: thank you so, so very much! I sincerely hope you enjoy Kira and Rogan’s story!