Courage (Mark of Nexus) (14 page)

What hurts more than giving up the love of your life? Taking the last few steps to ensure his happiness.

I sat on the bench outside of Foster Hall for an hour, trying to get my shit together, and what did I end up doing? Going through a pint of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough from the gas station and memorizing two study guides. This chat wasn't going to happen.

It wasn't that I didn't need to discuss things with Corynn. It had been almost a week, and from what I'd seen, she had yet to make a move on Wallace. The whole point of my sacrifice was for her to neutralize his strength and give him a normal life. Otherwise, what did I turn myself into a moody, stress-eating insomniac for?

No, we
needed
to talk. The problem was I didn't want to.

Giving her my blessing was bound to provoke one of two emotions in me, and either way, I'd end up crying. I licked the inside of the ice cream lid. Then she'd perceive me as weak, and I'd resent her. If there was one thing I hated, it was—

“What a sad, sticky girl,” a familiar voice quipped from behind me.

I froze, put my tongue back in my mouth, and lowered the lid to my lap. “Excuse me?”

“What're you doing out here?” Cole gripped the back of the bench and hopped over. “Besides stalking the Nullari girl and ingesting 270 calories. You know that'll go straight to your ass, right?”

I flicked him off and went back to getting my money's worth. “None of your business.”

“Oh, my beloved sister from another mister,” he chided, shaking his head. “Everything you do is my business.”

The wind flapped the study sheets under my leg, and I leaned over to throw my carton in the trash. “Cut the crap, AssCole. Why are you here?”

“Can't I stop by to check on you?”

“Not when it takes over two hours to get here.”

“Maybe I wanted to see you before your semester ends.”

“Maybe you have ulterior motives.”

“Rena.” He put a hand to his chest. “I'm hurt.”

I wiped my hands on my pants, gathered my study guides, and folded them down to fit into my pocket. “And I'm not in the mood to play games.”

“Fine.” Cole crossed his arms and gave my body a once-over. “No games. What do you want to do? Trash Corynn's room? Key her car?” A second ticked by. “Rough her up a little?”

Gotta love friends without scruples.

“She and I need to talk,” I explained with a sigh, standing up. “But that's not going to happen with you here, so if you'll excuse me…”

“About Wallace?”

I flinched and tried to mask it by glaring at some random dude on the sidewalk. “Maybe.”

Cole's brows furrowed. “But…”

“But what?”

He looked like he wanted to say one thing but settled for another. “Maybe it was a misunderstanding. Maybe this chick doesn't even want to be with him. I mean, hell, she's an ERA plant. Maybe you shouldn't
want
her to be with him.”

Like I needed doubt right now. “I want what's best for him.”

“So, ripping out his heart and thrusting him into the arms of the enemy is best for him?” He patted his pockets and shook his head. “Shit's sake, Sis. You give me anxiety.”

I watched with narrowed eyes as he produced a pack of Lucky Strikes and fumbled for his lighter. Half of me wanted to join him, if only to distract myself from the dickwad thing he'd he just said.

“Here's the deal,” he said, popping the cigarette into his mouth. “Your last class gets out at 2:50 on Fridays. Her last class isn't over until 4:10. She works in the lab on weekends, but Maverick won't be by to pick her up until 7:30 tomorrow morning.”

I didn't want to know how he knew that. “So?”

“So, we only have fifteen minutes to kill until our time window.” He cupped the end and sparked a flame. Three seconds later, he was in full-on dragon mode—smoke curling between us. “What do you want to do?”

Ugh.
I covered my nose and mouth with my shirt. “I want to throw up.”

“Gimme a break,” he mumbled. “It's not that bad.”

“It's gross.” My cotton barrier grew warm as I tried to breath against my chest. “Your lungs probably hate you.”

He lifted his shoulders and let them drop in one big movement. “Fast healer.”

“Well,
my
lungs hate you,” I ground out. “Did you consider that?”

“Actually…” His jaw went slack as he stared at my chest, like he was trying to develop x-ray vision. “No.”

“Shocker.” I started to walk off, but he caught my arm.

“Listen,” he said, wisps of smoke spilling from his lips. “I'll put this out and wait with you, if you give me that redhead's phone number.”

I let go of my collar, and the shirt snapped down around my neck. “You seriously came all this way to con me out of Rachel's phone number?”
Obsessive, much?

He dropped his cigarette in a grand gesture and smashed it with his boot. “There. Are you happy?”

I stared at the sidewalk after he lifted his foot. “No.”

Cole ran an exasperated hand over his head. “Why? Do your lungs still hate me?”

“No, but Captain Planet does. That's litter.”

He growled as he bent to pick up the discarded remains, and then tossed them in a tray atop the trashcan. “
There.
”

“Good,” I praised him, using the tone of voice I typically reserved for Wolfie. “Now explain to me why you want Rachel's number so badly.”

His lethal gaze rolled toward the sky. “You want an essay? Because she's got great legs, and she's nice and shit.”

“Oh, well, when you put it that way…” It was my turn to roll my eyes. “You know she's not going to sleep with you, right? In case you didn't notice, she’s churchy.”

He stared at me like he had a right to be disgusted. “I didn't say I wanted to sleep with her.”

“But you do, don't you?” I put my hands on my hips. “I'm warning you, Cole. If you convince Rachel to go out with you, and you hurt her, Wallace is going to be pissed. They're close.”

“Are you sure it's Wallace who's going to be pissed?”

I scoffed. “Rachel and I aren't even friends.”

“Good,” he said. “Then give me her number.”

Was my…? Yes, my eye was twitching.

He took my arm, and before I realized what was happening, we were behind the building.
Great. Shady and secluded.
Hadn't I learned my lesson at the garage in Columbus? “Cole.”

“Look, I'm serious. I swear to God, I'm not going to touch her.”

I backed away in case lightning chose that moment to make a not-so-subtle objection. “Right.”

“She's just so,” he went on. “I don't know. She makes me feel good.”

“You talked to her for thirty seconds.”

“And she made me feel good for thirty seconds!” His lips formed a tight line. “Now are we going to argue out here, or are you going to give me her number so we can go inside and wait?”

I eyed the back door. “You know they keep this locked, right? And we can only enter through the front entrance if a resident lets us in.”

“Sure.” He turned to a numbered panel I'd never noticed before and punched in an access code. There was a click, and the little light turned green. “Any other pressing issues?”

Of course.

We hurried inside before anyone noticed us. Technically, we weren't breaking in—more like, we'd shown up uninvited—but I didn't think security would be happy, either way. Was I really doing this?

“Now,” he said, climbing the stairs to the second floor. “Do I have your blessing or not?”

I scampered to keep up with him. “Why do you care if you have my blessing? I thought you just wanted her number.”

“I have her number,” he snapped, and opened the door marked with a giant two. “I just want you to say it's okay.”

How did he…?
No, I didn't want to know that, either.

I edged around him and started down the hallway, frustration weighting my steps. “I don't care, Cole. Call her if you want to. Just don't hurt her.”

He put a palm against my back and urged me forward. “You honestly think I'd hurt someone without provocation or necessity?”

I started to cite myself as an example, but thought better of it. In his mind, that was probably a necessity—regardless of the nightmares it still gave me. “No,” I admitted, “but that doesn't mean I'm not worried.”

“So, you
are
friends.” He grinned, coming to a halt in front of 216. “That's cool, because I want you to like my future girlfriend.”

God help her.

“And now that we have that out of the way.” He looked both ways before producing a small can with a straw. “Nobody ever said no to a little lube…”

I probably should've stopped him, but I didn't. His prowess for illegal activity was oddly fascinating, and he obviously came looking to do something along these lines. Why else would he have WD-40 on him?

Cole crammed the straw in place and squirted the hole above the door handle. “And then we'll acquaint Ms. Lock with Mr. Tension Wrench.”

His hands blurred, exchanging the can and straw for a small metal stick. He stuck it inside the lock, reached into his other pocket, and produced a small silver instrument of torture. “Now for the pick gun.”

“The what?”

Click, click, click, click, click!

“Geez.” I looked up and down the hallway. “Are you trying to get caught?”

“Think I can't get away?” Cole squeezed the trigger a few more times, and then removed the gun. A second later, he had the metal stick pointed the other way. “Here we go.”

“That's it?” I twisted the door handle and stepped inside, making myself an instant accomplice.
Crap.

He smirked, reset the lock, and the tools disappeared from view. “Now for some snoop—”

“What are you two doing here?” a distinctly English voice asked from behind him.

Cole didn't miss a beat as he held his hands up and entered the darkened room. “Rena did it.”

I shot him a look.

Corynn glanced around before coming inside. The door closed behind her. “All right. What's this, then?”

“U-Um,” I stammered. “Shouldn't you be in class?”

Slick.

“Funny thing about observing a class for no credit,” she said, tossing her backpack on the floor and flicking the lights on. “No one cares if you leave early.”

“Oh.”

She didn't seem too bothered by the fact that we'd broken into her new dorm room. “Well?”

“Rena wants to tell you something,” Cole explained, jabbing me in the side with his elbow. “Isn't that right, Sis?”

“Ow,” I grumbled. “Right. I just wanted to say you and Wallace…well, you can go ahead and…he's not my…”

She crossed her arms and leaned her hip against the dresser. “Are you giving me your boyfriend?”

“Ex-boyfriend,” I corrected, though the word tasted bitter.

A few seconds ticked by as she studied me. “Why?”

I gave her the same speech I gave myself every night. “Because he deserves a normal life. Because I want my friend to be happy.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “A normal life. That's what you think he wants?”

“Deep down,” I whispered. “So we're going to make it happen.”

Cole snorted, but didn't say anything.

“I'm going to give you his number,” I told her, pressing on before I lost my nerve. “Get things rolling, so we can all move on with our lives. I don't want to hear another thing about it.”

I looked around until I spotted some blank paper and jotted down ten heartbreakingly familiar numbers.
Talk about déjà vu.

“So, that's it?” she asked. “You're going along with the arrangement?”

“Yes.” God, did she have to grind the whole thing into the ground? The room was getting cramped. “He's yours now, so take care of him.”

“He's still hung up on you, you know.”

My heart squeezed, suspended for the slightest moment with possibility.

“But whatever,” she continued. “We all have our parts to play, and it's not like he's bad to look at.”

“R-Right.” I made for the door, Cole hot on my heels.

“He might even appreciate a good roll in the sheets.”

I paused with my hand on the door handle. “I should probably make one thing clear.”

“What?”

“I don’t know your reasons for consenting to this arrangement,” I began, lowering my voice, “and I don’t know what you left behind to be here, but I trust you. I
have
to. Because you’re what’s best for Wallace.”

My grip tightened. “But if you cross him, if you endanger that man in even the
slightest
way, I will find you, Corynn. England, America—I don’t care. I will track you to the farthest ends of the earth, and I will make you
beg
for death. Do you understand me?”

Her lips twisted in evident amusement, and it took all of my power to stay glued to the door. “Got it.”

Cole and I fled the scene with quick, purpose-driven steps. Me, because I had to get out of there. Him, because he probably wanted to call Rachel. Once we made it outside, he spun me around. “Hey.”

“What?”

He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and buried my face in his chest. “You're stubborn, but you have a good heart, Sis.”

I struggled against him, trying to keep from breathing in the smoke-scented cotton. “What's that supposed to mean?”