Drop of Doubt (48 page)

North’s dark eyes were harsh, and his fists were clenched, pushed into his thighs. He grunted. “Did you tell her? You better not be fucking around.”

Victor shook his head. “I’m serious. I’m not playing with her. I haven’t told her yet.”

“That’s good,” said Mr. Blackbourne. “You probably shouldn’t tell her. Not now.”

“Why?” Victor asked. Part of him was relieved. Mr. Blackbourne hadn’t told him he couldn’t love her. That alone was what he’d feared. “I should tell her, right? I should be honest. We’re supposed to be.”

“Normally, I’d agree with you,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “Only now, I don’t think so. We’ve got a bit of a problem with Miss Sorenson.”

“What’s that?” Victor sat up sharply, almost ready to stand and run and fetch her himself. “What’s wrong with her?”

Mr. Blackbourne waved a hand through the air. “Maybe you haven’t noticed, but you are not the only one to feel so deeply about her.”

“What?”

“Miss Sorenson’s qualities haven’t gone unnoticed by your brothers.”

Victor blinked at him for a moment, piecing together what he was saying. Slowly, his eyes moved to North again. When their eyes met, horror struck through his body in a wave of thundering timpani drums.

“You,” Victor stumbled as he spoke. “You ... you love her?”

North’s lips tightened like he was holding something back, but he nodded.

“When? How?”

“Does it matter?” North’s voice was a notch deeper than usual. “Would it matter when or how? Or who was first? Honestly, I don’t think we’re the only ones, although no one else has confessed it yet.”

Victor’s heart felt like it was being squeezed. It felt impossible. He’d known the others were taking her to the football games, sleeping next to her. It all felt necessary, because of circumstances. When Silas had held her the other night after her bad dream, he’d appreciated it, because he couldn’t play music and hold her at the same time. But the way Victor held her hand, the way she looked at him in those moments they were alone, she’d made him feel exclusive. He felt that, like him, she was dying to figure out the puzzle that would fit them together.

But what happened when someone like North, or Nathan, or Kota confessed they might love her, too? What could he possibly offer her compared to the others? Music? Could he use his music to make her love him? Money wouldn’t work, of course, nor would he expect it to. Music was about the only advantage he felt he had.

“No,” Victor whispered. This was the worst tragedy. If she had to choose between himself and North, he was sure she’d pick North. Was he so ignorant to not have seen this coming? Had he imagined her returning his feelings? He’d felt her kiss on his cheek, one of the few times she did return the attention he was dying to get from her. But if North wanted her for himself...

North frowned. “It’s shit, isn’t it?”

Mr. Blackbourne shook his head. “It doesn’t have to be like that, Mr. Morgan.”

“Like what? Isn’t this what you warned us about?” Victor asked. “If more than one of us loves her ... We have to ask her. She has to decide. And then, I don’t know. We have to become one of those couple teams, right? North and Sang would have to leave.”

“Unless,” Mr. Blackbourne said.

“Unless what? Unless she says no? Unless she runs off and doesn’t want any of this anymore?” Victor stood up, pacing back and forth in the small space of the dressing room. He fumed. Wild thoughts of running to find Sang, to tell her right now, to get his confession in before North swept in over him. He’d beat him to her. He’d win her over. He’d give up all of this, the money, everything he owned. He’d play until his fingers were nothing but bones.

Mr. Blackbourne eased himself out of the seat. He held himself up, with his shoulders back. “Unless she loved you both. Unless she loved us all.”

Victor stopped pacing, staring at him. “You can’t be serious.”

Mr. Blackbourne gestured to North. “Look at him and tell him what you’re thinking now. How you’d run off and steal her away so you two could be together. Could you live with yourself knowing you left North behind, miserable because he loved her, too? Could you live with her knowing she may have had feelings for him, and you denied her that happiness?”

“But...”

“Think about it, Mr. Morgan. What if Miss Sorenson came to you and told you she loved you, but she loved North as well? She’s upset. She’s worried she’d made a mistake. She couldn’t possibly love more than one person, but she does. She begs for your understanding.” Mr. Blackbourne took a step forward. “Would you crush her heart and tell her she had to choose? If she really loved you, too, would you stop her?”

Victor’s whole body seemed to stiffen as much as his heart did in that moment. “It’s impossible.”

“It’s already happening,” he said. “What we need to know is are you determined to run away with her, or can you possibly be willing to stick this out?”

Victor pressed his palm to his face, rubbing. “How could it possibly work?”

“We haven’t told anyone yet,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “But North and I recently visited the other dog team. The one with a single bird.”

Victor’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re kidding. You did? When? How?”

North coughed once. “They live in this state,” he said. “We saw them. They live together in a big house.”

Victor’s eyes widened. “Together?”

North nodded. “She married them,” he said. “All of them. She fell in love with all of them and the guys loved her.”

“It was the circumstances,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “They were trapped in an assignment with a girl and they couldn’t back down. She had to stick it out with their group and it was inevitable. Only they managed to prove to the Academy that their feelings were genuine and that they were happy with the relationship they had developed.”

Victor felt his brain contorting to try to put this together. “She stayed with them?”

Mr. Blackbourne nodded. “It doesn’t have to be one she chooses. The question is, are you willing to let the others love her, too? Instead of leaving us, or one of us leaving with her, could you live with North and yourself being in love with her? She wouldn’t have to leave, neither would either of you. Or anyone else that might love her.”

“Who else does?” Victor asked.

“Would it matter?” North asked. His eyes were intense on a spot on the floor. “I know what you’re thinking. I’ve been going through the same questions. When it comes down to it, though, if we forced her to choose one, there’s nine of us. Who is to say she’d choose either of us? Or any of us? She may decide not to, to spare our feelings because of who we are. But if we stay together. If we agree that we can all love her, she may just choose to stay.”

“She wouldn’t...”

“Love her or lose her,” North said. His head picked up slowly and he locked his gaze on Victor. “I’d rather split my time with her than lose her now. I can’t. I couldn’t live with this group if she left with any of you. I’d end up chasing her.”

North may as well have squeezed Victor’s heart with his bare hand. “You’d follow us?”

“I’d come for her.” He frowned. “Don’t make me try.”

“This is our problem, Mr. Morgan,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “Would you not pursue her if one of the others ran off with her? Sang is rather unique, herself. She’s got a big heart and I fear she’s going to have a worse time with dealing with this than any of us will. She’ll feel the guilt of splitting up our group, our family. The Academy would probably look at expulsion for all of us if we start this sort of dog fight over her.”

For a flicker of a moment, Victor contemplated what it would be like to live without the Academy. Most people did. He felt he could be satisfied with Sang and not have the Academy, but would the ghost of the Academy haunt him? When he knew the life he left behind? It was the other thing he loved, outside of his family. This family.

It was then he realized his heart was breaking on two fronts. His team members. He glanced at North again, and the fury he thought he saw in his intense gaze wasn’t there. It was sorrow. It was agony. North was as pained as he was. He loved her, and knowing that Victor loved her, too, and could possibly take her away, was killing him. Like it was killing Victor.

But what if they could share her? The theory seemed wrong, of course. It didn’t seem like it would be accepted.

But would he really be upset if North loved her? If North and Sang even went on a date or stayed with each other over night? Did it matter as long as she returned to Victor afterward? She did that now. She was home with Nathan or Kota or one of the others. He wanted to be with her, and trusted them to not steal her away right now.

Unless one of them discovered he loved her and...

“We have to get her,” Victor said, his voice stuttering an octave pitch higher. Desperate, he lunged at North, grabbing his arm. “If it’s true, the others ... we have to warn them. We’ve got to...”

North snagged Victor’s arm and held it. “We’re doing that now,” he said. “But we can’t scare her and we can’t tell them until they confess.”

“I think we’ll be okay,” Mr. Blackbourne said.

Victor pulled away from North. “They’ll tell her and they won’t know. She’ll run off with one of them. She won’t know.” He was in a panic now. Was he really already agreeing to this? Yes. He was. He’d do anything to make her happy. He wanted to make his family happy. All the pieces were together now. Like a computer code working in his brain, he was trying to figure out how to make it all operate the way he wanted. He’d share her. He just didn’t want to lose her. Ever.

Mr. Blackbourne put a cool hand on his shoulder. “Listen to me, Mr. Morgan. We only approached you tonight because I was pretty sure of your feelings. We can’t approach the others with this proposition until we’re sure they’re already in love.”

“But you said the others were.”

“I’m fairly sure they are, but they don’t realize it. We need to wait for that pivotal moment for each of them. Otherwise, I think they’ll back off.”

Victor shook his head, desperate now. “They can’t!”

“We know,” North said behind him. “We’re trying.”

“And the Academy,” Victor said. “They can’t know about this.”

“Not until it happens,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “Not until everyone has confessed and agrees. And no one must confess to her that he loves her. She’ll feel the need to commit to just you at that point, if she does.”

Victor’s jaw clenched and his fists balled up. “I ... we ...” He grunted. “What do I do?”

“We wait,” North said quietly. “We have to wait and watch the others.”

“I almost kissed her,” Victor said. “Several times. I almost...”

“She’s kissed Luke, too,” North said. “On the cheek, but it was close.”

Victor’s eyes widened. “Does he...?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “He hasn’t said so, but I think he does. He’s waiting for something. Perhaps waiting for her.”

Victor turned to Mr. Blackbourne. “How can we make sure they won’t ruin this chance?”

“We can’t,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “We just have to do our best.”

That seemed ludicrous. There had to be some other solution. It was like a blind gamble for her affection when he was so sure. Victor was desperate now. Like he had to figure it out tonight. He’d do anything to keep her nearby.

Victor retreated a few steps and sunk into the chair. He planted his elbows on his knees, and dropped his head into his palms. He sighed hard, and loud. “I can’t lose her,” he said. “I can’t...”

He felt a stiff and calloused hand on his shoulder. “I can’t either,” North said. “So you have to swear to me you’re not going to confess and then run off with her forever. Take her out. Take her home with you. But she comes back to me. She has to come back. If you can do that, I can live with it.”

North’s words seemed to calm the insanity that his head was trying to figure out. North believed it could work. North accepted this. If he believed this could happen, Victor had to believe in him. This was their chance. For the moment, he played with the idea of how it would work. He could live with North taking her out for the night, as long as she returned to him. Victor could imagine her smiling face like she’d missed him. He’d kiss her, whisper her name in her ear, and hum her favorite songs. When he was off on Academy assignments, he’d leave her safe with his team. The only people he’d ever trust with her.

“When can we tell her?” Victor asked.

“You have to wait until we all know,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “You have to wait until it’s all agreed with everyone. We’ll show her we all care, and then we’ll try to help her come to terms with it. I think she could. I think she’d welcome it. She does a lot with all of us now.”

Victor nodded. “So you’re in on this, too?” he asked.

Mr. Blackbourne opened his lips to answer but stiffened as his phone sounded an alarm. He reached around, finding it and checked the screen. He jumped up sharply, looking at North. “We have to go.”

“What now?” North asked.

“There’s another box at the school. Apparently there was a school dance tonight and it was left in the gym. It has my name on it.”

“Another empty box?”

Mr. Blackbourne shook his head. “No. This time, he left us some clues.”

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READ AN EXCERPT FROM THE FIRST BOOK IN AN ALL NEW ACADEMY SERIES

The Academy

The Scarab Beetle Series

♠

Thief

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Book One

Coming February 2014

Written by C. L. Stone

Published by

Arcato Publishing

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M
en are brilliantly stupid.

For one thing, guys carry the most cash with them anywhere. Didn’t anyone ever tell them cash was dead?