Users (24 page)

“What’s going on?” Ibram asked, coming up beside me, closely followed by the others. Cael came to stand on my other side.

I pointed at Alex. “She was using her power. That’s why Pippa was screaming and trying to get away from the ball.”

“I was not! You liar!”

“
You're
the liar!”

Brodie said to me, “You can’t just accuse someone without proof.”

“What are we in court or something? I
know
she was using.”

Jax said, “Let’s calm down. Everyone be fair.”

Brodie pointed at me. “She’s making false accusations. She doesn’t know when someone is using.”

“Yes I do.”

“Now who’s the liar?” Alex addressed me with a glower.

“Iggy, come on,” Devon said. “You can’t know that.”

Brodie glared daggers at me. “It’s impossible.”

I felt the buzzing again and backed away, worried that someone was about to do something to me or Cael. I looked at each one of them, and they all stared at me like I was losing my mind. Then I pinpointed the source. “Whatever you're about to do, Brodie, I suggest you don’t.”

He threw his hands up in the air. “You’re fucking paranoid!”

We all broke out into argument. Ibram stepped up and said, “Shut up! This is ridiculous. We are going to find out exactly who’s lying around here. Iggy, or Alex and Brodie.”

“I’m not lying,” Alex bit out.

Ibram turned to me. “You claim you can do something, but we don’t know you’re telling the truth. Unless you want people to think you’re lying, you need to prove it.”

Choruses of ‘yeah’ and ‘prove it’ and ‘good idea’ resounded. If I refused, I would lose credibility with everyone. If I agreed, Alex and Brodie would undoubtedly hold a grudge against me.

Alex put her hands on her hips and smirked at me. “Yeah, love bird.
Prove
it.”

“Fine.” Screw her and her lying pal.

Ibram divided us into two groups that he backed apart so they were clearly separated. “The groups will choose one person to use. But no one hurts anyone. Iggy has to identify the user.” He looked questioningly at me. “That sound fair?”

I nodded. Pippa joined the group that didn’t have Alex in it. Cael, Brian, and Shayla stood back to watch. “Fine. As long as no one gets hurt.”

“All right, then. Each team has fifteen seconds to choose someone.” He turned me around so I couldn’t see anyone, covered my ears with his hands, and then counted out loud while the teams whispered. Then he released me. “Time’s up. Stay in your groups until Iggy chooses.”

“Can I move a little closer to them?” Ibram nodded at my question, so I moved to stand about five feet away and pointed. “Ezra.”

He grinned. “Yeah. It was me.” They started murmuring.

“Shh!” Ibram ordered and pointed to the second group. “Who in that group?”

I stepped toward them and concentrated. “Jax.”

Alex said, “She's cheating. She can hear us talking.”

The students around him commented about how impossible it was that I was right. Ibram held up a hand to quiet them down. “Okay. Let’s do it again just to be sure. The groups will choose another person.” After fifteen seconds with my eyes closed and his hands over my ears, Ibram indicated I should start.

It was even easier than before. “Devon.”

“Last time,” Ibram said, and I stepped up to the second group again. But I felt nothing. No buzzing sensation at all. Brodie was in this group, and at my continued silence, he laughed. “You were just lucky the first few times.”

Ibram prodded, “Well?”

I said, “None of them.”

“So, you can’t tell who’s using?”

“I can tell. But none of them are.”

Ibram said to Brodie, “You guys were supposed to choose one person.”

“We did,” Brodie retorted.

I didn’t know what game they were playing, but Brodie was lying.

“It’s still no one,” I declared. Then I felt something. “Wait a minute.” I looked to the left of Brodie. “It’s Jax again,” I said. He nodded, but then the feeling got stronger. I turned back to Brodie and said, “Now
you’re
using.”

Alex pushed forward and said to Ibram, “She’s just guessing.”

“She proved herself, Alex. It’s done.”

“Who put you in charge, anyway, Ibarm?” she griped. “This isn’t a fair test.”

I stepped back from Ibram and looked up at him. “Now it’s
you
.”

His eyes widened. “It’s so cool that you can do that.”

Val came up to me and asked, “How do you do it?”

Pippa put a hand on my shoulder. “Have you always been able to tell who’s using?”

For the next several minutes, I tried to answer the questions of the students around me. Alex and Brodie hung back, looking angry, but they must have wanted to hear my answers because they didn’t leave. Then Cael pushed his way through to stand beside me. “Are we going to finish that volleyball game, or what?” I was glad he interrupted.

Ibram spoke up. “Yeah, let's play. But from now on,” he said pointedly at Alex, “no using powers on each other.”

Alex tossed her head at him. “Jensen makes the rules, and he didn't say we couldn't use.”

Pippa pointed her finger at Alex. “Don’t ever do that to me again. It's bad enough that we had to kill a bunch of animals. We sure shouldn’t be trying to hurt each other. It's bad enough in here without worrying about other Users.”

Alex rolled her eyes and spun around to leave, and we went back to our game. My team ended up losing the volleyball match, but it was a fun way to get to know the other students and break the tension that Alex and Brodie had caused. Afterwards, Cael and I swam around for a while longer before a voice over the intercom announced the rec center was closing in fifteen minutes.

Pippa, Val, and I changed in the locker room. “I stayed in so long that I turned into a prune.” Val showed us her wrinkled hands. I compared mine to hers and rubbed my palms, commenting about the weird texture that was always the result of swimming for a long time. Pippa showed us that her hands were completely smooth.

“But everybody’s skin prunes after spending a long time in the water.” Val took Pippa’s hand to examine it more closely.

Pippa said, “Water never affects my skin that way. Not since that shot I got when I was a kid.”

I nodded. “Must be part of your power.”

Val released Pippa’s hand. “That’s really cool that you can keep your own cells from sucking up water.”

Pippa gave us a small smile and examined her own fingers as if she’d never seen them before. “I guess it is.” Then she frowned. “I wonder what kind of power Alex has. I experienced this completely irrational fear of the volleyball, like it was going to kill me or something. It was really embarrassing. I'd like to know exactly what it is she can do.”

“Mind control. Maybe she induces psychosis or something,” I said.

Val’s eyebrows rose. “It makes me nervous that Alex has any power at all. She’s kind of scary.”

“What is your power?” Pippa asked.

“Blindness.” Val sounded proud.

“Then how did Dr. Jensen expect you to kill an animal this morning?”

She shrugged. “It wasn’t exactly fair test. Unless I blinded the cat in the middle of a busy street or on top of the roof of a skyscraper and it walked off the edge, I don’t see how I could have killed it.” She looked at me. “Fortunately, I didn’t have to.”

I couldn’t tell whether Val was looking at me with relief because she hadn’t had to kill her animal, or with disdain because I had killed most of them myself. I, too, wondered why Jensen would tell everyone they had to kill an animal knowing some people’s abilities didn’t allow them to do so. For that matter, why did he let us go swimming? Why did he let Ibram conduct that test to prove my claim? Why didn’t he send someone in to take Alex away for some type of punishment? Jensen was usually such a control freak, and I knew his people were watching us. It was confusing. Other than this morning’s test, my experience here so far was much different than Atlanta.

Chapter 19

Iggy

“Is it me, or is this whole situation bizarre?” I asked Wesley a couple weeks later. Doors wouldn’t shut during free time, so we were in his bathroom whispering. Surely there were no hidden cameras in the bathrooms.

Wesley’s eyebrows were pulled together in concentration. “I can’t believe Jensen would have a change of heart. The more freedom we get, the more suspicious I am.”

“We never got weekends off, either. And since we’ve been here, we’ve had them all free. It freaks me out.” It was Saturday morning, and we had just been informed that there would be no testing or meetings of any kind over the weekend. Again. The staff was at minimum, reduced to one nurse and two security guards. I wondered if Jensen flew back to Atlanta on the weekends.

“We also never had a recreational area. I feel wrong for even using it.”

“It’s got to be a test of some sort.” He stared at me. “Speaking of tests, did Jensen ever say anything about that incident at the pool?”

Wesley had heard about Ibram’s suggestion for proving I knew who was about to use their power. He’d been angry and fussed at me for it. “He hasn’t said a word.”

“That makes me even more wary.”

“Me too.”

“Just stay away from Alex and Brodie. With less security and minimum staff, I wouldn’t put it past them to try something.”

I lifted one corner of my mouth in a mock smile. “As much as you two have been hanging out lately, I’m surprised to hear you say that. What's going on with you and Alex anyway?”

“I’m a big believer in keep my friends close and my enemies even closer.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “You're attracted to her, aren't you? But she’s such a bitch.”

“Actually, that’s one of the things I like about her.”

His confession made me feel awkward and irritated. But instead of showing it, I leaned over and bumped my shoulder into his, jostling him. “You are so odd. You’re not gonna hook up with her, are you?” He gave me a ‘maybe’ look. “Wesley!” I hissed. “How can you warn me about her and then go have sex with her?”

“Iggy.” He gave me his ‘older brother is wiser look’. “Alex and I don’t have to be friends to enjoy fucking each other.”

My jaw dropped and I looked at him like he’d just developed a giant zit on the end of his nose. “Well, that's blunt. And gross.”

He just chuckled and laid his head on my shoulder. “I’m not looking for love. Unlike
some
people I know.” He nudged me. “So the second I was out of the way, Cael made his move, huh? Bet he was glad to see me gone. You two are all over each other all the time. He’s always touching you.”

“That’s not true.”

“He’s just lucky I wasn’t around.”

“Are you saying that if you hadn't gotten taken by the FBI, you would have been in the way? Kept Cael from making any moves?”

“Probably.”

“And now that we're all together here, are you going to get in my way?” I expected him to say something snarky, but instead, his mouth drew into a thin line and the muscle in his jaw ticked due to clamping his teeth together. It was something he usually did when he was angry.

“No. I won’t get in your way.”

For some reason, his response didn’t make me happy. “Wow. You must like Cael.”

“You deserve to be happy.” After a moment of silence, he face relaxed. “Besides, sex is a terrific stress reliever.”

He reached up to tweak my nose, but I backed away. “Are you talking about me or you? ‘Cause I’m not having sex. Are you and Alex?” The idea made me furious.

He stood up and put a finger over my lips. “I haven't yet, okay?” He rolled his eyes. “Calm down, will you?” He laughed and leaned forward to hug me.

I pushed him away. “Don't screw Alex, Wes. Not her. Anybody but her.” Then I wrapped my arms around him, inhaling his familiar scent.

“It's not like I'm going to fall in love with her or anything.” He tightened his hold.

“So you would just use her for the sex? That's not nice.”

He released me and kissed the top of my head. “You know I’m not a nice guy. Besides, I thought you didn't like her, so what do you care if I'm not nice?”

“I don't care about her, but I don't want you to catch a disease or something.”

He chuckled. Out of the corner of my eye, movement caught my attention. I pulled away from Wesley and saw Alex lean against the door jamb, one hand planted on a hip. “Well, Wesley. I thought your bathroom was
our
secret place.” One of her eyebrows lifted as she studied me. “The door was open.”

Wesley moved between us. “No need to pull out your claws, Alex. She’s just a friend.”

“Right.” Alex gave me a slow once over. “Can't say you have very good taste in friends.”