Orion (22 page)

Lee felt awkward at first, but after the plotting began, his Hunter side hunger for danger kicked in.  Too much testosterone in one room, I watched as they expelled their feelings through violence.  Calum started banging fists and hinting at a little extra nighttime sparring with Lee so I announced bedtime for the girl Valkyrie surrounded by Hunter boys and who knows what else.

The plan.  Lee would sneak around for more information. The three of us would make another visit to the warehouse called “the rack” in two nights when the whole dorm sneaks out into the woods, with us unnoticeably gone.  Calum made sure to remind Lee and me that he would be with us this time.   I would call my father with an update with as little information as possible.  I
’d argued that I had to give him something or he’d question not only my abilities, but my effectiveness of being there.  I proposed the idea of removing me and pondered where they might move me if I’m ineffective.  That closed the subject quickly. 

At lunch the next day, Calum came with me to my dorm room to call my father.  I heard every sound magnified ten times.  The click of the door shutting made my head boil. 

As odd as it was to have a guy in my room, I was comforted
even
when he started going through the things on my dresser touching everything.

“What are you doing?”

“Seeing the real you.”

Funny!  “Even more of me. Sure about that?”

He stopped in mid-turn with my favorite lavendar scent in hand, “Very sure princess.  All of it!  I’ve dreamed of sneaking in here.”

“What?”

“You’re not the only sneak,” he publicized, his eyes never leaving mine.

Says a Hunter!

“O.kay!”  I chewed my lower lip.  “Have you…been in here before
?” 
He called me princess and knows it now.  It suddenly means a little more.  Like, I even kind of like it.

He paused for the effect, “No!”  He was arranging my dresser again.

My breath released too easily.

“Just in the night, when you
’re alone in the dark.  At least I dream about doing it.”  He didn’t turn around.

I blushed.

“You’re blushing.”

“How do you know?”

“Just do.  And I want to know more about your every minute you’re not with me.” 

“My turn next.  Cool it
, Romeo.”

“
Okay, Juliet.” He hissed and acted like he was throwing claws.

“MEOW,” I made quotes in the air twitching my fingers back and forth.

He pawed the air again.

“Business now.  Pleasure later,” I reminded him.

“Oh, the promises.  For which you said you intended to keep.  This one included.  He held up my pink florescent bra hanging on the knob of the dresser.”

My face boiled, but the edge of a smile leaked through.

“Okay.  But I’ll take you up on that promise later, princess.”  He replaced it.

He seemed
to like the new pet name.  “Okay, my hidden in the shady side of things boy.”  I was truly happy around him.  He made me laugh.  I’d never had so much attention given solely to me.  He seemed so focused much of the time that I couldn’t help myself when I waited for his next bit of affection even if I was realizing as of late, that he was so important to me, I don’t think I could be anymore to him than I am now.  I forced myself last night to picture marrying this boy.  And...I couldn’t.

“You haven
’t said much about the fact that you knew you’re father was the actual next in line for the Hunter court.”

“Not sure it will pan out.  No sense.  Call!” he demanded tapping his wrist.

I made a face at him and dialed the number.

“Boy is fine.  Tortured.  Val court comprised.  Spy was within.  Possible other breach.  Court is in danger of overtake.”

I heard a click after pausing for more than five seconds.  Father was gone.  Would he understand my message about Dyer in the past or will he assume or know about another?  Hard to tell!  One thing I knew for certain, the danger was more real than it had ever been for me.  Other missions were baby work compared to this.  My life was threatened and all those important to me also.  How does one deal with that?  Head on collision coming right towards you and you have a split second to decide the possible outcomes.  What do you do? 
What do you do?

“Can I ask you something?” Calum interrupted my thoughts.

“Anything!”

“This princess thing.  You
’re really the missing brother’s princess twin and all the stories I heard.  They’re true?”

My eyes wide, “Yes, thought we had this clear.  What stories?”

“Don’t have time for them all.”  He bit off a bite of leftover cookie from the most recent picnic.    “You kill your victims with your knives and carve the family emblem in their skin.”

“WHAT?  Who says that?”

“Everyone knows the stories.  At least the Hunters,” Calum laughed.

“You laugh.  That
’s terrible.  I’ve never killed anyone like that or killed for thar matter.  Maiming is not getting dead anyway.”

His eyes narrowed, “You haven
’t?”

“You
’re shocked?” my breathing pushed harder.

Hesitating just enough Calum said, “No.  But that was the first thought that went through my brain when you told me who you were.”

I was horrified.  Although I hated admitting this to anyone, even this Hunter boy.

“And my second thought was that
’s not the person I know.  So no, I don’t believe most of what I’ve heard.  And I doubt anyone else will either when they know that they know the real you.”

My skepticism poured out and a heartbeat later alarm bells rang.  I was
alarmed
at the idea of others knowing, “They can’t know.” 

“Maybe not now, but maybe later.”  That terrified me beyond belief. 

“With all you’ve been holding back from me, I’d be really surprised any Hunter can beat you.” The ghost of a smile played across his face.

I knew it took a lot for him to admit this aloud, and to me.  “I
’m no super hero you make me or my family out to be.  And I’m only just me.”

“But if I could ‘power up
’ on sugar like the Stace I know, to give me the extra edge, I’d be there.”

“It
’s more than that.”

Calum was on a tangent now. “Not
going to happen for me.  You’re strange sometimes and do weird things.”

I snorted.  “Says a Hunter!”

“What?”

“Nothing,”
I  said rolling my lips together.

“What?” he pouted his lip out.  This is a hoot since he
’s so not the teddy bear type.

“It
’s just, you eat, a lot.”

He really pouted this time. 

I laughed.  “Let’s get to chemistry before we’re late.”

The Jekyll side of Calum told blonde jokes the entire way to class and had me laughing all the way in the door where seventeen other pairs of eyes stopped abruptly to watch.  Oops!
             

“If you
’re finished with your obvious attempt to interrupt the education of others, the two of you may find your seat.”

We both grimaced and said several “I
’m sorry” whispers as we passed our friends.

Of course, I had to look at Lee
’s reaction like the total idiot I am.  He held his face expressionless, but I detected pain in the way his mouth curved downward.  Felt it.

Derrick was snickering and I caught his mouthed comment to Calum, “About time you are making use of the socks I see.”

Calum’s face angered.  He bent over the lab desk growling, “It’s not like that.”

Derrick was so flustered and scared, I almost,
almost
, felt sorry for him.  For I realized then what Derrick had
really
meant.  And to know that Calum was defending my honor was well, awesome.  Wow!  The fact is no one ever had to before.

Tension rounded the room.  Dr. Quinn didn
’t help the matter.  His sour demeanor circled the room with him and made it around right to stand in front of my desk. 

“Detention!  Both of you.  After school!”

We both started to protest, but eyed each other and said absolutely nothing at all, what so ever!

Reading each other
’s thoughts by the purposeful hidden smiles, we were being forced together so what was the big deal. 

That
’s until…

“Damn!”

Dr. Quinn’s head and every other in the entire class shot up to a standing Lee covered in the green goo of our chemistry test today. 

“
Detention hall seems to be gathering fame.  Perhaps I’ll make it extra special today since I’m the teacher on duty.”  And he smiled as if rejoiced.  Not a nice smile.  The one the devil gives you when you’re about to enter hell and meet your maker. 

I curled my lips into a snarl at Lee for his too obvious score on getting himself into detention.  I guess he didn't get family privilege.   My only concern, why he wanted to join us.

We finished the day with all three of us sitting in detention with another boy I’d only noticed as a very advanced slingshot.  We were left staring at Dr. Quinn’s unforgiving glare knowing he pondered deep, dark secrets even from his own nephew. 

He made sure to call us a few choice names that weren
’t too heretical and then set us straight with extra algebraic equations for first years.

I eyed Calum once and stifled a silenced giggle while he held up drawn images of a very distorted cartoon drawing of our evil famous leader of detention.

Lee spiked his head up hearing me.  He
is
Valkyrie.  But it is very off that evil famous leader heard me also since he was shaking his head.

We all settled our heads back to blah, blah, blah!

“I expect better of you.  If you want to go places one day,” he paused, “you’ll get more serious.”

Liar!
  We know what your plans for us are!

No one spoke.  Time moved on.  Slowly.

The timer buzzed. No one stood.

“Daniel, your dismissed.”

“Lee, dismissed,” after Daniel, the other boy left.

Lee stood, waiting for our names to be called.

“Leave,” evil famous leader said. 

He did so very slowly.  I knew he
’d be waiting just outside.  I presumed Quinn thought so too.

Quinn came out from behind the desk.  We were sandwiched into a “make do” closet turned into a punishment room with the classic white wall “drive them nuts” theory Maze warned me about.  I
’d seen enough movies to know, she’d been right.

His click, click of the heels landed beside my chair.  I looked up as Calum
’s foot butted against mine. 

“You
’re dismissed,” he said slowly blurring my eyes. 

He took only a step back to allow me to slide by him. 

“Be careful Miss Ro-ke-a.  You wouldn’t won’t to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”  He didn’t even look at Calum, just walked out.

I glanced back at the desk Quinn sat at for our silent “stare me down” contest.  It didn
’t escape my attention the fact that he’d walk in with something, a notebook and left without whatever it might be.  I decided to find out.

Calum followed my quiet observation and high-tailed it over to the desk before me.

You are being watched.  Both of you.  

Nowhere is safe!

I’d lost my voice.  A frog lodged there, I croaked out, “Why would he warn us?”

“
I don’t know if I want to know.”

Lee was waiting outsid
e the door, the benevolent fool, content on not leaving without answers.

He snatched the note. “It is either a change of heart or his life has been threatened.  Either way, nothing we didn
’t know.”

He handed it back, eyes drilling into me.  Calum had that same sense of fear or impending danger that I just wasn
’t sure what to think it might label us as yet.  Either way something bad was coming, I just had that feeling.

Lee left with no goodbyes acting more and more distant.

Calum pulled me outside to where we felt safe talking.

“Will you do something for me?” He moved in close.

“Anything!”  I blushed knowing I’d never said that to anyone before.  “Well, almost anything!”

“Stace!”  He drew out my name with mischief in his tone.

“Sorry.  Just unaccustomed to the attention and your intentions.”  Such an admission.