The Rift (14 page)

“No.” I pushed away from him and wiped the
tears from my face. I needed to suck it up and push the pain back
into the special place I stored all of my pain and anger and hurt.
I didn’t have time to feel. “It’s not going to be okay.”

I didn’t look at Henry’s face. I turned and
went back to the dishes. He stood next to me and helped without
saying a word.

Angelica and Dr. Veronica didn’t join us in
my warded bedroom. Henry and I sat on the bed, Thad sat with his
back against the door, and Tessa snuggled in against Jed. Jed’s arm
wasn’t around her or anything, but she was pressed up close against
him and had her hand on his knee. I scooted closer to Henry and
took his hand. “Houston reaped Wraith,” I said.

The room erupted as Jed and Thad started
yelling at me. They wanted to know how long I’d known and why I
didn’t end the hike as soon as he told me and on and on. I just sat
there silently, and waited.

Once the room was quiet, again, I spoke. “If
he’d wanted to hurt me, he could have found easier ways to do it.
He says he wants to partner with me. I don’t know why, but I
believe him.” I paused to give them a chance to argue with me, but
they seemed ready to listen. “So we can stay here, and I can get to
know him better and find out what he’s up to, or we can go back to
Varius. As a contracted employee of Varius, I will go along with
whatever decision is made.”

“You’re going back to Varius,” Jed said. “I’m
going to call headquarters, right now.”

I just nodded, unsurprised and somewhat
relieved. I’d been training to fight reapers, but I wasn’t ready to
fight Houston. Once Jed was gone, Henry twisted and looked at me,
worry plain on his face. “Did he say or do anything to hurt you?”
he asked.

“No, in fact he was incredibly polite. Even
funny. He wasn’t what I expected.” I lowered my voice. “I think I
would be less scared if he’d been mean.”

“You like him.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” I said. “But he’s
likeable. I had to keep reminding myself he’s a psychopathic
monster.”

Thad touched my shoulder. “I think Len should
hear about this,” he said. “I’m going to go make a phone call.”

I nodded and Thad left, leaving me alone with
Tessa, and Henry. Tucker emerged from behind the second curtain and
sat down on the other side of me. “I don’t know much about
Houston,” he said. “No one knows much about Houston. He’s kept to
himself, for the most part. Most of his reapings have had corporate
approval, as far as I know. He’s scary powerful and he’s hurt you
in the past, so I don’t like him, but I think psychopathic monster
might not be a fair label.”

I wasn’t used to Tucker worrying about being
PC. “You think I should play nice and find out what he’s up to?” I
looked at Henry as I spoke, so Tessa would think I was asking him
the question. Henry knew what I was doing and gave a noncommittal
shrug.

“I don’t think it’s a bad idea,” Tucker said.
“To be honest, I’m worried that you’re giving up so easily. It’s
not like you.”

I’d never told Tucker that I’d been feeling
scared all the time, or how much the nightmares affected me. He had
a funny way of seeing right through me, though, and I figured he
knew. Or, maybe he’d been too involved with Henry to notice. I had
been telling him and Henry that all I wanted was to get out of
Varius and go on a mission, but now that I’d managed it, all I
wanted was to run back to the safety of those warded walls. I
couldn’t tell them that, though. “There’s nothing at stake here,” I
said. “The town isn’t being threatened. None of my friends are in
danger.”

Tucker rolled his eyes and opened his mouth
to speak, but Tessa beat him to it. “I thought this room was
warded,” she said. “Are you talking to yourself or is there a
ghosty here?”

I looked at Tucker eyebrows raised, and he
just shrugged. I guess it had been obvious I wasn’t really talking
to Henry. I’d rather Tessa think I was crazy then have the general
population knowing Tucker could pass through wards when I was
behind them. “I’m talking to myself,” I said, staring her down,
daring her to argue.

She met my gaze and hers hardened. She no
longer looked like an adorable, fun-loving woman, she looked like a
predator. “None of my business,” she said. “I just wondered if Jed
knew there was a ghost listening in.”

Shit, she was probably right. I should have
told Jed Tucker was there, but I’d gotten so used to not mentioning
Tucker’s presence to protect him and Henry, I hadn’t even thought
about it. Even so, I was in no mood to apologize to her. “You don’t
trust me.” I said.

“You weren’t even on my radar until you
started talking to yourself,” she said. “You aren’t exactly
noticeable.”

That stung, mostly because I believed she was
right. I pushed to my feet and ignored Henry trying to pull me back
down.

Tessa stood, and she smiled, real slow, like
she was going to enjoy what was about to happen. “I should probably
warn you, I fight dirty,” she said.

I was on her in an instant, all my anger and
pent-up fear making me want to hit someone, and she was just
standing there, offering herself up. I dodged a punch as I came at
her and ducked down to sweep her legs out from under her. She
jumped over my feet, moving faster than anyone I’d ever fought
before. A smile curled up the sides of my mouth. I was going to
enjoy that fight. I moved in close to her and twisted her around
into a headlock. She twisted right back out again, like she was
made of rubber, and punched me hard in the side.

I covered my pain and bounced away, pulling
in my life force. I heard someone yelling, then I heard Henry
laughing, but all I saw was Tessa. She was tough and bubbly, and I
hated her. But I couldn’t deny that I was having fun. She came at
me. I dodged to the right and gave her an uppercut to the gut that
sent her into the air and onto her back. I moved to straddle her,
but she rolled away, laughing.

Strong arms wrapped around me and pulled me
back. Tessa bounced up and clocked me a good one in the jaw that
had me seeing stars. I fought against the arms holding me back, but
then Henry had Tessa, and I knew the fight was over.

I stopped fighting the guy holding me and
smiled at Tessa. She smiled back. “We should do that again,
sometime,” she said.

“Anytime, anyplace,” I said. As the
adrenaline and anger left me, fear started seeping back in. The
arms around me suddenly felt too tight, and I wrenched myself free
of them and shoved hard against the guy holding me. Jed hit the
wall with a loud thump, and I turned to see him shaking his head.
“Anyone want to tell me what that was all about?”

“I don’t like her,” I said. I held my breath
and waited for Tessa to tell Jed about Tucker.

She snorted. “I don’t like you, either.” I
turned to look at her, and the stern expression on her face made me
laugh. She laughed with me.

“You’re both crazy,” Jed said, as I sat back
down on the bed.

“By the way,” I said. “I should have told you
before, but Tucker’s here.”

Jed’s eyes widened, and his smile vanished.
“We have the best wards money can buy on this room.”

“They don’t keep Tucker out.” I looked at
Tucker and he nodded to let me know it was okay that I shared that
with Jed. He already knew Tucker could pass through wards to get to
me, but there were different levels of wards, and Tucker wasn’t
supposed to be able to get through the more sophisticated ones. “If
that gets back to your mother, I’ll kill you.”

Tessa growled softly and I glared at her.
“You kill him, I’ll have to kill you,” she said.

“Let me see if I can put this in terms you
might understand, wolf girl. Henry, Tucker, Thad, they’re my pack.
If Jed tells his mother what Tucker can do, my pack will be hurt
and Jed knows that, so if he hurts my pack, I’ll kill him.” I
didn’t realize I hadn’t included Angelica in my pack until after
I’d already spoken, but it was too late to take it back.

Tessa looked at Jed. “It’s alright, I’m not
going to tell my mother and she’s not going to kill me,” he said.
“Though it’s nice to know where I stand.”

He didn’t meet my eyes, but he was frowning
and his jaw was clenched. Maybe he felt left out because I didn’t
include him in my pack, but I wasn’t going to feel bad about that.
Jed had chosen to keep his distance from me, not the other way
around. “What did corporate say?”

Jed’s hands clenched as tight as his jaw.
“We’re staying.”

“For how long?”

He met my eyes. “Welcome to your first
mission, Kelsey. You are to do whatever you have to do to get close
to Houston and find out exactly what he’s up to.”

My heart stilled for a few beats, and I had
to remind myself to breathe. I took in a big lungful of air and
tried not to look like I was having a breakdown. I had wanted to
get out of Varius, I had wanted a mission. I wasn’t going to let
Jed see how hard it was for me to get what I wanted. Henry gripped
my hand and squeezed, but I shook him off. “Great. Is there a
plan?”

Jed shook his head. “Kelsey, you don’t have
to do this. Doctor Veronica is willing to say you aren’t mentally
ready and, as far as anyone at headquarters knows, you aren’t
physically ready. I can take you back tomorrow.”

“No, it’s fine.” I wasn’t about to let Jed
bail me out. “I have a contractual obligation to Varius. I wouldn’t
want to give your mother any reason to say I broke it.”

He nodded like he wasn’t surprised, but
neither his hands nor his jaw loosened.

Thad walked in and took in the scene with
wide eyes. “What the hell happened to you?” he asked.

I realized there must be a big red mark on my
jaw and my hair was probably a mess. I reached up and twisted my
shoulder-length straight hair into a messy ponytail. “Tessa hit
me,” I said. “She’s not very nice.”

Tessa snorted, but Thad didn’t look any less
confused.

“Oh, and Varius says I have to stay and play
nice with Wraith.”

Thad’s jaw dropped. “Are they trying to get
you killed? Kelsey, you don’t have to do this. Your dad doesn’t
want you to do this. You can leave tonight and join him in Texas.
Fuck Varius and their contract.”

Jed cleared his throat. “Normally, I’d agree
with you Thad, but do you remember Alvin Sweeney?”

Thad turned to Jed, shaking his head slowly.
“She wouldn’t dare…Kelsey’s too valuable.”

Jed looked down at the floor and shuffled his
feet. “As far as she’s concerned she’s gotten what she needs from
Kelsey. If Kelsey won’t cooperate with her, she’s done with
her.”

“What has she gotten from me? I haven’t given
her anything.”

Jed met my eyes and I saw pain in his. “She’s
gotten it without your consent, Kelsey. You know you can get DNA
from a drinking straw? She probably got someone to take hairs from
your brush, she might have even gotten your blood somehow.”

I felt sick. After I’d fought so hard, she’d
gotten it anyway. “So now she’s sending me into a suicide mission
to get rid of me?”

“She hopes you’ll change your mind and agree
to work deletions, that’s why Doctor Veronica is still here. If I
know my mother at all, I’d say she’s got some sort of deal with
Wraith. There’s no way it’s a coincidence he’s in this town.”

“Did she pick this safe house?” I asked,
already knowing the answer.

Jed nodded. “Look, it’s getting late and
we’re all tired. We can talk about a plan in the morning. I just
want you to know, Kelsey, that this isn’t straightforward. Wraith
wants something from you, and he wants it bad enough to have made a
deal with my mother.”

“A deal with the devil,” I said.

“Doctor Veronica would like to see you in her
room to discuss all of this,” he said.

I groaned and started to shake my head, but
Henry gave me a little push and I knew I wasn’t getting out of it.
I walked back to Doctor Veronica’s room, my feet feeling like they
were encased in cement. Behind me, arguing erupted.

After another stupid session with Doctor
Veronica, I sat on the front porch in a rocking chair, where the
dark could hide my puffy, red eyes and tried to feel the calm of
the forest before me. Someone stepped out onto the porch and sat
down next to me. I didn’t have to look, I could recognize the
cologne as Henry’s.

“Wanna talk about it?” he asked.

“Nope,” I said.

“I like Tessa.”

“Bully for you.”

“I think you would like her, too, if you
weren’t clearly jealous.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you still have a
thing for him?”

“I don’t. You’re my boyfriend and all the man
I’ll ever need.”

“No. I’m not.” He sighed. “You need to have a
life of your own, Kelsey, or what’s the point?”

“I have a life, Henry. I love you.”

“And I love you. That’s why I’m taking you
shopping tomorrow.”

“I fucking hate shopping.”

“You need to feel good about yourself,
Kelsey. You need to want to live and to love the person you are, or
Wraith and any other reaper you meet will roll right over you.”

I ignored him.

“Do you want to die, Kelsey?”

His question froze me down to my center. I
felt tears start up again. “I don’t…I don’t want to be afraid
anymore.”

“Oh, Kelsey.” He pulled me out of my chair
and into his lap, hugging me tight. “Being afraid is part of being
alive. It means you want to be alive and that’s good news, because
I was starting to think…”

“I don’t have a death wish” I whispered.

“Good. Because I adore you, Kelsey, and if
anything ever happened to you…”

“You wouldn’t get to touch Tucker
anymore?”

He dumped me out of his lap. “Fuck you.”

Henry rarely got angry and I didn’t like it
at all. I climbed back into his lap. “I’m sorry. I’m in a bitchy
mood.”