Deviants (7 page)

“I admire how you take care of your brother.” Cal’s strong, warm arm slides over my shoulders. “If I get my wish, someday he’ll be my family, too.”

My insides flip. “Your family?”

He cups my chin with his fingers, his thumb tracing down my cheek. “Of course. He’ll be my brother, when we get married.”

“Married?” My mouth dries.

“Someday. That’s what I hope.” He kisses my forehead, his lips both searing and soft. “I love you, Glory.”

He loves me?
It’s what I’ve always wanted, but I can’t respond, not with this huge secret between us.

His lips drift down and hover so close I inhale his breath. Knowing our lips are close to touching muddles my thoughts and makes my face tingle. I know I should stop him—if he knew what I was, he’d want me dead—but I don’t
want
to stop him. I want to be kissed. I want to feel safe. I want to be a Normal. I want the horrors of my life to be over.

I tip my face up, and Cal’s warm strong lips press against mine, igniting a sharp pinch in my chest that shoots down. His arms wrap around and pull me in tightly. His heartbeat penetrates my skin, thumps through me as our chests press together, and I hope beyond hope that the sensation’s because he’s holding me close and not because of my curse.

He inhales deeply and trails warm kisses up and down my throat then back to my lips. It’s as if my body’s an oxygen tank and he’s Outside in the dust. Like he needs me to breathe. At any moment I’ll forget my life. I’ll drift into a dreamland where my problems are gone.

Emotions pop behind my eyes like a million tiny explosions and I fear what might happen should they join forces and escape. This is what I’ve always wanted but I can’t lose control. Focusing on a spot of white light that’s bouncing off a building in the distance, I will the brightness to surround me, to wipe out my emotions, to extinguish my curse.

I blink, and suddenly Burn is silhouetted on the far side of the roof, arms folded over his chest, his head slowly shaking. I stiffen.

Cal breaks our kiss and holds my head in his hands.
“What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine.” I can’t let him look behind us. Burn must be a Deviant, and while I have no reason to protect him, I feel compelled to.

Cal kisses me again, and this time his lips demand more but I can’t enjoy it. Not with Burn near.

I push away and look past Cal. Burn’s gone.

“I’m sorry.” Cal drops his arm and he looks hurt. “I keep forgetting our age difference. I moved too fast.”

“I’m sixteen. I’m not a kid.” But he’s eighteen, and I bet he’s kissed other girls—with or without a license.

“Of course you’re not a kid,” he says with a soft smile. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

Seeing an opportunity, I stand. “This
is
happening fast. I need time to catch my breath. Can you give me a moment alone?” I gesture forward. “I’ll take a quick walk over there.”

“Of course. I’ll tidy up this mess. We should get going if we want to make curfew.” Cal wipes the knife clean of cucumber juice on his pant leg, and I force a smile before I walk to where I saw Burn.

A message is scratched into the roof’s surface.
Meet me. One hour. Same alley. Important
.

Every muscle inside me trembles and I stagger back from the note toward Cal.

Burn is a ticking bomb I need to defuse, and there’s no time for me to get home and then back to that alley. Halfway to our Pent, I stop Cal at the start of a bridge, then pull him onto a shadowed window ledge, stories above the ground. Clearly
misinterpreting why I stopped us, he pulls me against him, drawing me in so tightly my feet leave the ground. Pressed against his hard, warm body, I almost forget why I stopped. Cal’s assumption seems like a good plan and I melt into his arms.

A groan rumbles through his chest. “You make me so happy.” He presses his lips to my neck and although it feels wonderful, I pull back. “Good night.”

He laughs. “I don’t think so.” His lips slide from my neck to my jaw and then up to my lips, and I can’t turn away—not without pushing against him—if I do that, one or both of us might fall from this ledge. Pleasure sparks at his kiss and I rub my mother’s ring, needing to refuse what his kiss demands.

When his lips lift from mine, his cheeks are tinged red, his eyes are darker, and his breaths are fast and shallow. “Is something wrong?”

I shake my head, but wiggle back from him to put an inch of space between our bodies.

“Hey!” A loud voice booms from the bridge where it meets the ledge.

Over Cal’s shoulder I see a Comp glaring at us. Cal presses his back against the building’s wall beside me.

“What’s going on here?” The Comp’s metal armor clanks as he reaches for the shocker gun on his hip.

“We’re licensed,” Cal says as we hold up our arms to show the bracelets clamped on our wrists.

The Comp frowns. “A dating license does not excuse public indecency. Have you not read the P&P? There are
children living on this bridge.” He pulls a small computer from a pocket on his belt. “Employee numbers?”

I draw a deep breath. If I get arrested, Drake’s doomed. I wish I’d left Cal behind on that roof and gone directly to meet Burn—strange that at this moment he seems less dangerous.

“Listen.” Cal sidesteps toward the Comp. “Can you give us a break here?” He reveals the inside of his wrist.

The Comp pulls out a small rechargeable torch that doesn’t seem to work. It casts a bluish glow on Cal’s wrist, and the Comp snaps his head back and grunts. “
You
should know better,” he says.

I fight to hide my surprise. Clearly Management stamps some kind of mark on the wrists of the Jecs.

“Yes, Officer.” Cal straightens his shoulders. “It won’t happen again.”

The Comp snaps his computer back on his belt. “Haven equals safety. Observe the P&P. Set a good example.” The Comp lowers his voice. “Especially in an area like this.”

Cal nods and I wonder what the Comp means about an area like this. Sure, this is a densely populated bridge and there are kids, but the distaste in his voice was clear. If Cal and I had parents in Management, or lived in a better neighborhood, I expect we could kiss where we wanted.

“On your way.” The Comp stomps onto the suspension bridge that’s missing at least one of its original cables. The structure quakes under the combined weight of his body and heavy uniform. The few people who hadn’t scrambled into their huts when they spotted the Comp, brace themselves against the vibrations.

I look over to Cal. “We shouldn’t walk home together.”

“Nonsense. He knows I’m a committee member.” Cal’s chest puffs a little but his eyebrows move closer together, and I can tell he’s upset we were nearly arrested.

“I’m fine from here.” I smile to reassure him and to quash the real emotions stirring inside me. “And clearly, I can’t be trusted to behave.”

He laughs and then rubs his fingers over his chin. “Maybe you’re right.” He lowers his head toward mine. “I hope no one saw me reveal my mark to the Comp.”

“Mark?” I tip my head to the side, deciding it’s better to pretend I didn’t notice. “Why don’t you go first,” I say while he’s considering whether to explain what he meant. “I’ll wait until you’re out of sight and then follow.”

The Comp did me a favor. I don’t know what this Burn guy expects to gain by forging a note from my father. And it has to have been forged. No one survives an expunging and I saw my father tossed out of the dome. The cameras shut off soon after the Shredders found him and if he’s not dead, he’s turned into one of them. A Shredder couldn’t have written that note.

I rub my ring to calm down and think. Burn’s motivation can’t be blackmail. I’ve got nothing of value but secrets, and the way I see it, where secrets are concerned, Burn and I are at a stalemate. No chance that guy is a Normal.

I’ll call his bluff. I’ll tell him I know he’s a Deviant; I’ll tell him that I’ve got connections in Management—I’ll make him see I’m a threat.

“Be careful. Keep safe.” Cal bends to kiss me, but I turn
my cheek to dodge his lips.

“I will, and thank you—for tonight, for the cucumber, especially. It was delicious.”

He beams. “I thought you’d like it.” He leans his shoulder into the wall. “I’ll move up in the Jecs, and if I get through the Entrance Trials for Compliance Officer Training, we’ll have plenty of fresh vegetables in our future.”

“Great.” My face hurts from the strain of smiling, and I can’t figure out whether the nerves churning my stomach and skittering up my spine are from his talking marriage so soon, or my knowing it can never happen.

CHAPTER SEVEN

^N
ERVES ON EDGE
, I glance down the alley where I first saw Burn and assure myself that the danger of this meeting is lower than the danger of his following me around. I lift my hand to shield my eyes from the lights glaring from the far end, where the alley meets the Hub. No sign of movement.

I’m fifteen minutes late and he’s nowhere to be seen. Worse, it’s past curfew for employees still in GT, and if I get caught, I’ll risk arrest for the second time tonight.

“You came.”

I spin at the deep sound of Burn’s voice, and the air rushes out of my lungs. I back up a few steps to increase the distance between us. How did he come up behind me without my hearing? I hate this guy for making me so uneasy, for proving I’m not as aware of my surroundings as I think.

Resentment builds inside me, igniting my curse. Instead of trying to extinguish the sparks behind my eyes, I look
directly at Burn’s and let my resentment build to anger. Focusing my thoughts on his stomach, I twist.

Pain flashes on his face.

Shocked, I look down, staring at the small hole above the big toe of my left shoe. Light-headedness threatens, but I win.

I did it. I hurt him. This confirms what I’ve suspected: I can affect more than rats’ organs. My curse affects humans.

And Burn is a very large human.

He raises his dark, heavy eyebrows. “You’re powerful. Hector was right.”

I reel, my father’s name a punch to my heart. I haven’t heard or thought about my father’s name for years, and I might have forgotten what it was until now. It was merely the name my mother called my father. I never thought of him as Hector, just Dad—then murderer.

My mother’s name, Anna, flashes to mind and my thumb flies to her ring. I want to be like her, not my father, but to survive I need a little of both.

Burn steps closer, and as if sensing I might run, he grabs my arm. Smart guy.

“I
am
powerful,” I tell him. “If you know what’s good for you, never come near me again.”

He pulls me forward. “I’m powerful, too, little girl.”

His hand is tight, really tight, on my arm—so tight I might bruise—and I struggle against him and raise my chin higher to look into his eyes. “I am not a little girl. I’ve been single-handedly taking care of my brother for three years.”

His grip on my arm loosens but he doesn’t release me. “I
know.”

I swallow the fear that’s pressing into my indignation. “Leave me alone.” I look into his eyes, but this time he’s smart enough to release me. I look away.

He takes a step back, reaches into his big coat, and puts on glasses that are darkened like the masks the Comps wear Outside. But these are strange, with dials at their sides, and they completely obscure his eyes.

“Listen.” His voice is even and intense. “Your brother’s in danger. I need to get him out of Haven.”

Now I
know
he’s crazy. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“People can’t live Outside. Nothing can, except rats and Shredders.”

“That’s what they want you to believe.” His long dark hair falls against the side of his face, and he pushes it back with a strong, powerful hand. It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever seen—and the sexiest.
What’s wrong with me?
I want Cal. I love Cal.

“Who wants us to believe?” I ask, my voice breathier than I want it to be.

“Hush.” He steps closer and lowers his voice. “The so-called Management of this place, that’s who.”

My heart thumps so loudly I can hear it, and it bothers me that he’s so cool and calm. I need to seem as cool and calm as he does because I need answers—and I need to make him leave us alone. Although I’ve heard everything he’s said, it’s like my thoughts are a puzzle and none of the pieces he’s offering fit.

I’m rubbing my ring so hard that it heats against my
skin, but I have to admit I’m intrigued about the idea of life beyond the dome. Years ago, my grandparents were among the lucky ones hired to help build Haven, escaping certain death. Stories from BTD are vague, incomplete, and contradictory—such talk outside GT is against policy. Still, if the earth was once big enough that people flew through the air in machines, it doesn’t make sense that we’re the only ones left. The only ones who figured out a way to survive. “Why should I believe anything you say?”

“Believe me. Or don’t. Doesn’t matter.” Burn towers over me and I catch my reflection in his lenses.

Fists form at my sides. I can’t look away and wonder if this is how the rats feel when I’ve got them trapped. Burn knows
nothing
about my life,
nothing
about Drake,
nothing
about me. “Why would you claim my father’s alive?”

“Because he is.”

“My father was expunged. Torn apart by the Shredders.”

“So they told you.”

“Is my father a Shredder? Is that what you’re saying?” I hate my father, but that’s worse than thinking he’s dead.

“No.”

“Well, which is it?” I snap. “He’s either dead or a Shredder. Once you’re exposed to the dust, those are the only two options.”

“Those are more Management lies.”

“
You
lie. Give me one reason I should believe anything you say.”

“Don’t believe me then. Your father asked me to save your
brother, not you.”

My stomach contracts. “He doesn’t need saving. I keep him safe.”

He glares down at me and his strong jaw twitches, but he doesn’t respond.