Evanescent (17 page)

The dove grey afternoon drones on. Coop calls me to
meet him at the clearing just shy of Diamond Peak, and I don’t
hesitate making my way over.

An autumn rainbow of yellow and crimson
blesses the maples as they yield their leaves to Mother Earth. It
breaks up the steel grey skies that stretch out overhead like a
yawn. It’s majestic out here with the dew of fall settling over the
landscape. I’ve never seen hillsides so rich with color, so
seemingly alive while experiencing their death.

A pair of arms circle my waist. “Sorry, I’m
late.” Coop sears the words into my ear like a hot summer night and
my skin catches fire. “Ezrina’s ready to share the results.”

“Are you kidding?” My heart stops at what
this might mean. I hope to God that poor girl lived, that’s she’s
perfectly resurrected and not in some far more unfortunate state.
“I hope it’s good news,” I heave the words out in a sudden panic.
“If it’s not, I’ll feel horrible, Coop. Not to mention we’ll be
screwed.” A resurrection for Pearl could save the entire Spectator
race, namely the Tobias family.

“We’re never screwed. I promise we’ll come
out on top.” He twirls me into him, and his eyes offer a gentle
smile all their own. “I promise, Laken, I will always keep you
safe.”

“I know you will.” It comes out weak, but
everything in me believes his words are truer than my next
breath.

“Real quick before we go”—Coop nods back
toward campus—“Flynn called, said Hattie helped him scope out
another group of willing Spectators.”

“Hattie?” I’m almost amused. “What do you
think’s up with that? Clearly a Fem would have no interest in
helping us.”

“I have no idea.” He shakes his head. “But
if I get my way, we’ll find out sooner than later.” He glances over
at the stone. “You ready to do this?”

“With you?” I’d run through a landmine with
him if he wanted me to. “Always.”

Cooper takes up my hand. We take a step back
before rushing the wall of granite at a hundred miles an hour.

My bones oscillate, my body quivers without
ceasing long after we’re spit out onto the slick floors of the
Transfer. The pale hall extends for what seems like an eternity as
Coop leads us down corridor after corridor with such accuracy you’d
think he engineered the building himself.

“She said to meet her here.” Coop squeezes
my hand as we enter a carpeted area. A blue glow emanates to our
right, and Coop doesn’t hesitate leading us inside.

“I recognize this place,” I whisper. “It’s
the room with the floating coffins.”

Everything in me seizes as I take in the
long glass tubes that extend from floor to ceiling. Corpses float
inside, submerged in blue fluid. Each of them holds a blank open
gaze with their bodies sealed in wetsuits, giving them the appeal
of an army of petrified soldiers. This was truly a killing field, a
mass watery grave that begs for intervention.

“I bet you half of these are stolen lives,”
I say. “I wouldn’t put it past the Counts to arrange for death just
so they could proliferate their numbers.”

“Worst recycling program ever.” He tightens
his grip around my waist.

Ezrina scuttles into the room with her dark
cloak, emphasizing the hump over her back, her wild hair wafts in
the breeze like a slow building fire.

“What happened?” Coop swallows hard as if
bracing for the worst.

“She lives.” Her haggard frame straightens
ever so slightly. “
Pearl
.” It whispers from her like a
demonic incantation.

A girl about our age walks into the room
with long, glossy hair—black as soot—full ruby lips, rosy glowing
skin—everything about her is the perfect picture of health.

“Pearl?” I step forward and inspect her. She
has on a short black dress, her long legs touching down, lean and
strong, with her feet pressed into a pair of heels.

“Do you like it?” She gives a little twirl.
“Ezrina said all the girls dressed like prostitutes now, and I
really want to fit in.”

“You look terrific.” Not to mention alive
and unstoppably healthy.

Cooper gives a dry laugh. “You made it,
Pearl. Congratulations.”

She made it. My heart tries to pump out of
my chest—so wildly amazed and horrified all at the same time.

Now what?

Coop and I stow Pearl away in my bedroom and
just stare at her as she rambles on in an animated state that
neither of us had ever witnessed.

“Do I have to go to school? I absolutely
hate school. Is there any way I could just stay home? I miss TV. Do
you have TV? I love TV dinners. Can you help me get some of
those?”

“Pearl.” I hold my hands out in an effort to
slow her down. “Relax, would you? You’re starting to give me an
ulcer.” My head throbs in rhythm to her elation. “On second
thought, if anyone has a right to vomit everything out at once,
it’s you. Please, take a seat.” I coax as Coop and I land on
Hattie’s haunted mattress. “Now, tell us about yourself. Do you
remember anything that happened?”

“Let’s see.” Her pale eyes sweep the
ceiling. “I was born fourth in line, two of my brothers died early
in a horrible train accident. My sister and I attended
Ephemeral—residing at Alcott Hall.” She makes a face. “I know
Austen is the rival suite, but I really want to stay. I never liked
having an east-facing dormitory. I’m not big into rivalries
anyway.”

Coop winces as he inspects our newfound
friend but doesn’t say a word.

“I think it’s great you’re not big on
rivalries,” I say stupidly. I kindly omit the part about me not
being so big on Ephemeral in general.

A gentle knock erupts at the door, and Jen
breezes in. “Cooper?” Her face contorts as if she found us buck
naked, twisted together like a pretzel. “Do you mind?” She points
out the door, not bothering to hide the fact she’s a little more
than pissed. “Laken has a boyfriend, thank you very much,” she
says, hoisting him into the hall rather unceremoniously.

“Excuse me,” I say, plucking her hand off
his jacket. I step out with him and shut the door behind us. “So
what do you think? It looks like Ezrina perfected the resurrection
recipe, and now you won’t have to exterminate the Spectators.”

He pulls his lips to the side. “I wouldn’t
go running to the Counts with the good news just yet.” He glances
over my shoulder before stepping in close. “Don’t you think it’s
odd that Pearl was a student at Ephemeral?”

“Why would I think it’s odd? Should I be
surprised?” Crap. I don’t know what to think anymore.

“It’s strange, that’s for sure.” Coop
latches onto me with those pencil grey eyes. “I’d better go before
Jen has a coronary.” His cheek pinches to the side. “I’ve got some
shopping to do for homecoming anyway. Apparently all hell will
break loose if I don’t accessorize correctly.”

“Homecoming,” I whisper, despondent at the
thought of Coop escorting Grayson anywhere.

He glances at the door. “Be careful,” he
whispers. Coop reaches up and caresses my cheek, making the rest of
my body jealous for his touch.

“Say cheese!” Grayson steps in close and
displays a picture of us on her phone with Coop brushing over me
with his hand. “Now to hit send.” She clicks away, and already I
know where it went.

Shit.

“Pity.” She gives a mock frown. “Wes has
been asking for you all afternoon.”

Coop lets out a sigh of frustration. “I
really don’t appreciate this.” He shoots Grayson a look of
discontent. “I was just helping out a friend. It really pisses me
off that you’re so quick to cause trouble.”

Grayson’s bright pink lips quiver into a
perfect O. Her shoulders sag. Her eyes cut to dangerous slits as
she glares into him.

“Well, Cooper”—she takes in a controlled
breath—“I was just helping out a
friend
, myself. You see, it
turns out some guys from Rycroft jumped Wes this morning. They had
to take him to the infirmary. He’s got a concussion, and they
nearly yanked his balls out of his nose.”

The floor shifts beneath me—the oxygen
vacuums out of the room.

“I need to get to Wes.” I take the stairs
two by two and tumble down the last few.

“
Laken
.” Coop helps me up. “I’ll
drive.”

“I’m coming with you.” Grayson follows us
into the cool evening air.

Who were these idiots from Rycroft?
Obviously, that psycho I supposedly dated, Miles Richards, was
involved. Suddenly, I’m feeling the need to invoke an ass kicking
myself.

We hop into Cooper’s truck. Grayson pushes
herself in so close to him, it makes me wonder if she’s
driving.

I stare out the window at the silver-colored
world as it stretches out like taffy.

Wes is hurt. He was asking for me. I used to
worship at his feet, and now I’ve reduced him as low as the enemy,
but he’s not—nor will he ever be. I need to reprioritize and get
him back in his right mind. We were each other’s everything, and we
can’t lose sight of that now.

“You okay?” Coop dips past Grayson’s breast
extensions as he looks me over.

I give a brief nod.

Coop. He’s filled in Wesley’s void so
proficiently, dare I say better. I think out of all the things this
new world of Ephemeral and the Counts have given me to fear—the
thing I fear most is Cooper Flanders himself.

He’s changed everything.

Nothing will ever be the same.

The infirmary is a boxy building, across
from the north campus, that I didn’t know existed until this
unfortunate hour. It took more than ten minutes to get to by car,
so I’m glad I accepted the ride.

“I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t go in,” I say
to Coop before we enter the tiny building.

“I want to.” He glances past me at Grayson
who’s already at the information desk.

Inside, the scent of ammonia scours my
senses, makes my eyes water from the invisible fumes employed to
battle bacteria.

“Wesley Parker,” I pant into the girl seated
at the front desk. “I mean,
Paxton
.”

“Mr. Paxton is in the third room to the
left.” Her forehead creases as she takes the three of us in. “Keep
it down. He’s trying to get some rest.”

I don’t listen to the rest of her spiel. I
simply count out the doorways and barrel into the one where I find
Kresley, seated at the edge of a tiny blue sofa.

“Look who decided to show?” She rises,
mostly to get out of my way as I head to the other side of the
curtain.

“Shit!” It expels from me in a breathless
whisper.

“
Dude
.” Coop makes his way over to
Wes, shocked at the bloated rendition of my beautiful
boyfriend.

Wesley’s left eye is swollen shut. His lip
is torn in an upright angle with stitches forming a jagged row of
X’s, giving him that scary Halloween effect.

“Heard you broke your rib.” It comes from me
weak, broken as Wesley himself.

“I’m okay.” He sits up and winces in the
process.

“You’re not okay,” I whisper, taking up his
hand.

“Did you see the guys who did it?” Coop
looks genuinely pissed which shouldn’t surprise me since Coop is an
all around nice guy.

I rub my thumb over Wesley’s palm as if
nudging him along.

He shakes my hand loose and gives a dry
laugh.

Crap. I’m such an ass for drooling over
Coop’s “all around nice guy” status while Wes lies on his
deathbed.

I take up his fingers again and pretend not
to notice the overt eviction he just gave me.

I love Wes so much. It kills me to see
him like this.
I over annunciate the thought as I give his hand
a gentle squeeze.

Wes looks up and smiles before redirecting
his gaze toward Cooper.

Damn, Coop.
He glares at him a
moment. “I did see the guys who did it.”

Kresley steps in, wide-eyed with
anticipation. “It was that fuck-up she was seeing at Rycroft,
wasn’t it?”