Maverick (Maverick Academy Series) (26 page)

It surprised Whit how easily she discounted what Darby was saying.
She actually did believe in Nolan, so why the heck couldn’t she let it go and just be with him again? She really missed him, but something was still holding her back, keeping her from forgiving him. She put it out of her mind, trying to pay attention to Rory for the rest of dinner.

Her room was empty when she
got back from the cafeteria. Thankfully. Whit changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed with her dream journal. She’d had an idea earlier while she was running, and wanted to try it out. She started to write about what the game floor had looked like, felt like. Once she’d filled a page, she laid down and closed her eyes, concentrating on Dark Conquest.

Whit stood on top of a crate. Looking down, she
saw that she was on a stack of three crates, about 15 feet up. She heard voices in the distance – maybe two or three people. Rory was hanging from a rope about 20 feet away. The voices were getting closer. Her eyes had adapted somewhat to the dark, so the game had been going on for while. Suddenly Whit froze. She was able to think about things while she was in a dream. That was a first. Glancing down, she noticed two shadows huddled next to a crate. The shadows moved silently away from the crate, so that they were now directly below Whit. It was Nolan and Mark. They whispered some more. She overheard something about a trap and fire, but missed the rest. The boys crept forward slowly, eyeing everything around them, but not once glancing up. Whit smiled and looked over Nolan. He looked sexy as hell in his black uniform. As she watched, he bent and wiped his forehead with the bottom of his shirt, exposing his abs. Whit might’ve drooled a little, and her hands started to sweat with the need to touch him. Good grief, she was pathetic. He was the enemy and she needed to remember that. Once the guys were past her position, Rory gave the signal. Whit concentrated on Mark, who was her target. She was just started to push an image at him, when BANG!

Whit woke wi
th a start. What had made that noise? Looking around her room, she saw that everything seemed okay. She laid there in silence, waiting for the noise to come again, but nothing happened. Glancing at Nalini’s bed, she saw an unmoving lump. Could the sound have been in the dream? Could that actually happen? She sighed and tried to go back to sleep, wishing she’d seen the end of that dream.

It was the last week before holiday break
, and Whit couldn’t believe how fast the semester had passed. Practice for Dark Conquest was almost taking over her life, but now on top of that she had exams to prepare for. She only had a few, but that still meant spending time studying. Thank goodness there were a few classes that didn’t have exams.

History of Specials
didn’t have a test, but Whit was interested in the topics without any outside motivation. So far they’d learned about the Redeemers and started some vampire history. However, this week Mrs. Tiller had brought in a newspaper article about a school in Montana that had been destroyed. The details were skimpy, something about a fire. The worst part of the story was the casualties. The remains of over five hundred people had been found in the ruins, some children as young as eight. The story had brought tears to Whit’s eyes and fear to her heart. The authorities were clueless and had no suspects, but everyone in her class knew without saying it that it had been the Redeemers. They claimed they were doing these things for the greater good, but how could it be anything but evil to kill an eight year old? To burn people alive? They were absolute monsters.

Mrs. Tiller tried to change the subject
back to vampire history after reading the article, but several students were so upset that she’d dismissed class early. Whit wondered how the Redeemers found the schools. Did they have spies inside the schools? That thought made her feel extremely unsafe, and she looked around in fear. How easy would it be to infiltrate a school like Maverick? Could someone fake abilities to get in, or did you have to have proof of your gifts? Whit thought back to her own experience, but Mona had done all the contacting. Then again, Mona and her mom had attended Maverick, so there was proof enough. She thought about staying after and asking Mrs. Tiller, but the teacher had disappeared right after class was over. It was probably for the best anyway since she needed to hurry so she wouldn’t be late for team practice.

On
most days, Whit’s team practiced immediately following their last classes then went to dinner together. Practice usually meant discussing strategy ideas or trying to improve their skills. Whit felt like she was already being pushed enough during Mind Study, and now she had team practice stretching her mind as well.

But she was getting better.
Since Mind didn’t have an exam, McFaddin spent every minute of class pushing her, and the other students, to improve their skills. McFaddin had been ecstatic when Whit told her about becoming invisible during the game. Their class still discussed their dreams, but now some of them were developing and improving other skills as well. Usually class started with dream circle, followed by group time, and then individual time with McFaddin. Whit had worked with almost everyone in the class trying to improve her gifts, but McFaddin was the one who helped her the most.

Whit understood
now that mindbending was basically making someone believe something other than the truth, even going so far as to change what that person was seeing. McFaddin had shown Whit exactly what that meant. She’d made Whit believe that there was a huge bug climbing up her leg. Whit, of course, hadn’t known that it was a trick. She tried to knock it off several times, but the little booger just wouldn’t go away. Whit became so upset about the bug that she’d started screaming for someone to help her get it off, but at that point McFaddin and dropped the illusion. Whit was stunned at how realistic it had been. She was also surprised that she was so susceptible, since she could also do it. McFaddin explained that protecting the mind was a different skill, and one that they would work on next semester.

Instead of starting a new skill, s
he told Whit to practice moving heavier and heavier things with her mind, to develop her mind strength and endurance. As far as mindbending went, McFaddin advised her to get a couple of friends to practice on, but to ask for their permission beforehand. All in all, Mind Study had become an eye-opening experience.

Within the first couple days of pushing herself,
Whit’s telekinetic skills had improved so much that during team practice she’d been able to float a net while discussing possible ways to trap the Silent Assassins. Whit had told them about the vision she’d had, though they’d already found out who they were playing, thanks to Nolan’s team winning their first match. She’d described everything, except for her thoughts about a certain sexy guy. Rory encouraged Whit to keep trying to dream, because she just knew she would see something that would give them an advantage over the Silent Assassins.

After practice, the team always went to the cafeteria and relaxed for a bit. Ellie had finally got fed up with Rory
, and told her to shut up about the game at least during dinner. So the new rule was no game talk during supper. Talk usually centered on class work or gossip, but tonight Whit told them about the article she’d read during Specials History. Their reactions were, as expected, horrified. Whit asked them the questions that had occupied her mind since that class.

“How do they find the schools?” she asked
, glancing from person to person.

“Nobody knows, but they do sometimes.” Ellie focused on her spaghetti.

“Could they pretend they’re students and get in the school that way?” Whit asked, knowing these questions were probably just as terrifying to them as they were to her.

“No, at least I don’t think so.
To get in, the school does a background check on the person and their family. All gifts are genetic, so it’s easy to find out if your family attended a school somewhere,” explained Lindsey.

For the remainder of dinner, the conversation seemed s
tilted, and everyone was quiet. Whit regretted bringing up the topic at all, though she’d been dying to know the answers. Dinner was the only time they weren’t focused on the game, and she’d ruined it today.

On the walk back to the dorm, Whit spotted Nolan sitting on a bench beside the walkway.
When she approached, he stood up and waved to her.

“Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?” he asked.

Rory and Ellie stayed by Whit’s side until she nudged them on and sat down on the bench. “What do you need?”

“I was just feeling weird about the upcoming game, since we’ll be playing against each other.” He
focused on his feet and kicked a rock into the grass. “I mean, I hate it that we’re going up against each other. I’m afraid it’s just going to make it harder for you to give me another chance.”

Well, now was the time. She’d been hoping for an opportunity to talk to him, and this was it.
“Look, I’ve been thinking about it and maybe I can forgive you. I’m just having a hard time trusting again,” she said sadly.

Nolan turned toward her and grabbed her hand.
She didn’t want to pull away, so she stayed still. After they sat there holding hands for several minutes, Nolan finally looked at her and smiled. Whit couldn’t help herself, and smiled back.

“I
did miss you, and I guess I’m willing to give you another chance. But you better not lie to me again,” she said seriously, looking him straight in the eye. “Also, the thing with Darby …”

“There isn’t anything with Darby. I promise,” he pleaded.

“Well, I just know that when I see you with her, you guys are always touching. It bothers me. How would you feel if I was letting another guy touch me all the time right in front of you?”

“I get it. I’ll make it clear to her that I am not
interested and she needs to stop,” he said. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers. “You’re important to me and I don’t want to mess it up. Once the competition’s over, she won’t have a reason to be near me anymore. I promise you that I won’t make you feel that way again.”

Whit felt
unsure of her decision to give him another chance She was happy to be with him again, but at the same time scared of being hurt by him a second time.

As they walked back to the dorms,
she noticed that Nolan wouldn’t let go of her hand, even when she reached her building. Pulling her into the shadows next to some bushes, he hugged her to him.

“I can’t believe how much I’ve missed you thes
e past few weeks,” he said. When he saw her puzzled looked, he clarified, “I mean, I’ve never really missed being with one particular girl before. I usually just move on to the next one, you know? Shit, that makes me sound like a real player, doesn’t it?” He winced.

“Yeah, it does.” Whit laughed. “But I already knew you were a
man whore.”

Nolan chuckled
. “Thanks a lot. Just what I want my girlfriend to call me.”

He pressed
her body against the wall behind her while she was still reeling over the label; he’d never called her his girlfriend before. He glanced down at her lips, then slowly leaned in. Whit felt her heartbeat speed up as he drew closer. Nolan’s hand slid up her arm and into her hair, holding her head steady as his lips met hers. The kiss quickly got out of control. Whit felt starved for him, and he must’ve felt the same way, because she heard him groan as her tongue slipped into his mouth. One of Whit’s arms circled his neck, while the other strayed into his hair to play.

She couldn’t believe this was happening.
It was like all the dreams she’d been having over the past few weeks were coming true. Her body was filled with excitement as Nolan’s hands pressed her closer to his body. His hands but didn’t remain still. They roamed down her back, over her hips and stopped on her butt. Normally Whit would’ve stopped him at this point, but she’d missed him so much. What could a little bit longer hurt?

He must have felt her give in because the next thing Whit felt was
Nolan unzipping her coat and rubbing her back under her shirt. She heard herself whimper as he continued to knead her butt and run his fingers along her spine. Her hands pushed his coat off and shirt out of the way. His skin felt hot as her fingers drifted across his lower back before stopping on his sides. Nolan pressed his hips against Whit’s, drawing a soft moan from her. The hand along her back glided across her side and slid up until it was grazing the underside of her bra. Whit felt her insides quiver as she tugged his shirt over his head.

As she dropped his shirt to the ground, Whit realized
suddenly that Nolan was outside shirtless in December. Taking a deep breath, she stopped kissing him and leaned her head back against the wall. Nolan’s mouth moved to her neck as he brushed his hand slowly over her breast.

“Wait, Nolan
.” She pushed him back a step. His eyes drifted open and looked down at her disheveled clothes. His hand slid to her stomach when she pushed him back, but he made no attempt to remove it. “It’s winter and you don’t have a shirt on. Aren’t you cold?”

“Whit, do I really need to answer that? You were keeping me plenty warm
.” He winked, but she rolled her eyes and nudged him away. Once her clothes were fixed, she hugged him and, after a quick kiss, moved toward her dorm.