Water Games (Watergirl Book 4)

by Juliann Whicker

  He grinned a little bit sharper. “Then you’d be my sister for real. I’d have to feel guilty for liking the way you look in that bikini. Scars and all, you’re still hot.”

  I scowled and headed to the door. “Still? Since when has hot been something I was? You’re mental. I’ll be right back.”

  I ran up the stairs, two at a time, pulled my jeans and t-shirt over the bikini, threw on some flip-flops since I’d left my sneakers by the pond, and met Cole out by his big black truck where he was putting away the cooler.

  We drove through the town then out to the gravel road that led to the old pea factory. A new eight foot high fence ran along the road.

  I gave him a look.

  He shrugged. “They put that in back in March.”

  March? Why didn’t Sean tell me about this? Did he just have so much going on that things like that escaped him? Did Dean swab everyone in town? Why?

  “So it’s high security?”

  “Yeah. I have a friend here who was hired on the night shift. He loves it. The pay is double what you can make in day, and he’s saving up for this really hot number, cherry red, V-8—”

  “You sound like Sean.”

  He gave me a glance. “He’s definitely an engine guy. What happened?”

  “I thought you didn’t want to know,” I said, staring out the window.

  “I don’t want to know about the weird stuff. Relationship issues are normal.”

  “We’re fine.”

  “He’s not your boyfriend, but you’re fine?”

  “So, how hard would it be to break into this place?”

  “Depends how much you want to get shot. They’ll shoot you. Live ammo. It’s serious, Gen. You should know that. You didn’t get those scars from making out in the back of a movie theater.”

  “How do you know? I like my making out dangerous.”

  He laughed. “Okay. You don’t want to talk about it. I’ll just guess that he’s so rich and all that, and you don’t fit into his world so you may as well stop trying and just sink back into the mud where you’re comfortable. Am I right?”

  “I kind of felt like I was fitting, but it’s not real. I’m not… I can’t… It’s not possible.”

  He nodded and didn’t say anything until we got to the first checkpoint.

  A guard was in the house and the gate was pretty sturdy looking. Not fancy, but definitely steel. Also there was a sign about it being charged.

  Cole pulled up and rolled down his window. The guard stared at him, eyes dark and flinty.

  “Hey. Did someone order pizza?” Cole drawled.

  I snorted and the guard looked at me. He nodded and hit a button, opening up the gate.

  I stared at him then turned to face front. “I guess someone did.”

  “Yeah, this is probably where I should drive away. If anyone asks, I didn’t see anything. Got it?”

  “Sure. You didn’t see anything. Just pizza. Seriously, after this is all over, you need to buy me some. I’m starving.”

  “You got it. With sarsaparilla. The good kind. Mmm. Why am I buying? I’m driving you. You should buy.”

  “You’re the one who made five thousand bucks on spit. I’m broke.”

  He laughed. “Well maybe they’ll tip us.”

  The next checkpoint was weird. They opened the gates before Cole rolled down his window. We glanced at each other and then with a sigh, he pulled ahead.

  “This doesn’t feel very ominous, does it?”

  “Nope. No way a psycho killer is going to come out with a chainsaw and kill us all.”

  “Not a chainsaw; that was the abandoned school. The abandoned warehouse had clowns with knives.”

  “Ugh, thanks Cole. Why did I have to watch all those horror movies with you?”

  “Seriously though, they’re letting you in. Or me. Maybe they found something in my spit, some alien infection or something and they’re going to put me in isolation and the whole town on lockdown while the virus spreads over the world and ninety-five percent of the population dies before a cure can be found, from my spit. I should have asked for more money.”

  I elbowed him. “Yeah, seriously. Why did they let us in? Maybe they let anyone in who shows up.”

  “I guess that’s possible, but then why the guards?”

  I sighed. “All my ideas are ones you don’t want to hear.”

  “Right. Thanks for the reminder. I don’t know anything.”

  “You might be more sneaky than anyone else I know. Good thing your aim in life is mediocrity.”

  “Good thing. Here we are. Should I park?”

  We’d arrived at the big square building. I nodded and he swung into a parking spot not too close to the door. He turned the key to battery to keep the music on and reached into the glove box for a ratty paperback.

  “You’re staying here?”

  He shrugged. “Do you want to walk back?”

  I sighed and got out, slamming the door behind me. He was not interested in being backup. Was he my friend or not? Not that I blamed him. I should have insisted that he stay out of it. What was wrong with me? He didn’t want to be involved. I should have taken my bike. It would be good for me to get some exercise. I walked over the gravel in my pink flip-flops, wiped my hands on my pants and stared up at the reflective windows on the second floor. A cloud went over the sun and a horror theme started up in my head. Not the kind of music I’d been waiting for.

  I climbed the steps, trying to look like I belonged there. Why didn’t I just call Sean and ask him what was going on? Hm. Maybe because that meant I’d have to talk to him. I was still avoiding him. I was such a coward. I’d rather walk into a possible horror movie than talk to Sean. Even if he didn’t tell me I was an imbecile who was more destructive than a fleet of suicide bombers, I’d know I was. Also, that he’d taken my brain without my consent. I couldn’t trust him no matter what he said. He’d made lying to me a habit. I had to know what they were doing with Cole’s spit. Whatever else, he had to stay out of my mess before I drowned him.

  I stared at the metal handle before grabbing it and pulling the lever. It clicked and opened, obviously high security stuff. I dragged the heavy thing open and stepped inside the dim foyer. A guard was at the foot of a set of stairs. He had his hands clasped in front of him and nodded at me.

  I licked my lips. “I’m looking for Dean Horne.”

  He gestured up the stairs behind him.

  “Thanks.” I edged past him then took the steps quickly. I was panting by the time I got to the top. I wasn’t used to not using my gills.

  At the top of the steps was a gray metal door with a small window in it. I peered through and saw a table covered in file folders. I put my hand on the knob and tried to turn it. Locked. I glanced over my shoulder but there was no sign of the guard. Exhaling, I knocked, hurting my knuckles.

  It opened and there was Dean in a white lab coat, goggles over bloodshot eyes and his hair messier than I’d ever seen it.

  “Wow. It’s a little bit early for a Halloween haunted house, don’t you think?”

  He pulled me in and slammed the door closed behind me. “Why are you here?”

  I crossed my arms and glared at him. “You swabbed Cole. Why?”

  He tossed the goggles onto the desk. “We’re in the middle of something right now. I don’t want to miss it. We’ve been working with the Soremni sample. I’ve never seen anything like it. Not real Soremni, of course not, but your mimic.”

  I stared at him. “I’m sorry to interrupt what sounds like a very interesting time. Are you saying that you have a Soremni’s hostage here that you’re experimenting on?”

  He frowned at me, kind of bewildered. He was kind of cute as a mad scientist. Junie should be here to see him. “Of course not. Look, there’s the lab.” He gestured out the large window along one side of the room. I went over and looked down at the enormous floor where hundreds of people in white coats and masks, some in full plastic body suits, handled vials and tub
es.

  “Wow. That’s a lot of people.”

  “Yeah, well, Sean’s in a hurry.”

  I shot a hard glance at him. “A hurry to do what?”

  He stared at me with an idiotic look, a carefully cultivated idiot look so no one would know he was smart enough to be devious. He was just like Cole only completely different. “You should ask him.”

  I cocked my head and stared at him. “I’m asking you.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “That sounded like a threat.”

  “It was.”

  We stared at each other until he shrugged. “Fine. The captain didn’t say what to tell you if you showed up here.”

  “Then why not the truth? Just to be different.”

  “He’s trying to find a cure for the kiss of obsession. He’s trying to cure you.”

  Chapter 15

  I stared at the notebook before I started scribbling.

  1-Why the crap didn’t Sean tell me he was trying to find a cure for the kiss of obsession?

  2-Why couldn’t I control my water issues after working so hard with my psycho mother?

  3-Could I live without Sean?

  I slammed the notebook closed after that one. Is that what I’d been thinking about? Really? I threw the notebook across my room. It slid across my computer desk and fell behind it. I was finished with hiding. That’s what my first reaction always was, paralysis.

  I marched down the stairs to the big black phone that hung on the wall. I took deep even breaths that weren’t anything like hyperventilation and picked it up. I dialed with hands that didn’t shake even a little bit. Yeah right. He answered on the first ring.

  “How is she?”

  I took a shaky breath.

  “Gen?”

  “Hey, Sean.” I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes.

  He was quiet for a long time before he sighed. “I heard from Dean. I didn’t tell you about the lab because I didn’t want you to get your hopes up. People have been trying to find a cure for centuries. Also, I don’t want you to think I care about it. I do care. But it’s not an obstacle for me. You can be obsessed for the rest of your life and I’ll still be the guy who fixes your toasters and sleeps on your hideously ugly couch. Did you read it?”

  I slid down the wall and put my face against my knees. Stupid tears slid down my nose, dripping on the hideous linoleum between my feet. “I love you. I’m sorry about Terramore. I’m sorry about Oliver. I’m sorry about dragging you there. I’m sorry about running away and not reading your letter. What did it say?”

  “Read it.” He hung up.

  I started really bawling for no particular reason until the room was blurry and I had a headache. At least the sink didn’t explode. See? I was getting better at controlling the small stuff. Yay. I wiped my nose on my sleeve and went back upstairs to pull my bag out from underneath the bed.

  I blew my nose and then sat down and pulled out the t-shirt that smelled like mold, boxie, and the letter. It was slightly damp, but when I ripped it open and pulled out the letter, the words were completely legible. All three of them. Did thirteen count as a word?

  Check track 13.

  I exhaled and grabbed boxie. I tucked the buds into my ears and pressed play.

  Sean’s voice was deep, beautiful, real. “Gen, this is on me. There were no casualties, not even so much as a damaged brogge. Everything will be back to normal this time next year. It’ll be even better. I’ve been working on a design for the stabilizer that will… Anyway, it’s not a big deal. It’s a big deal, but not unfixable. Maybe you’re wondering what the whole neck marking thing was. Did I intend to make you a zombie and hand you over to Oliver? No. I knew that after the duet, we’d head back home one way or another. I knew that you’d never become that close to a true Soremni female again. It was the practical choice. I wasn’t going to do it, but the slight chance that it could be the key to unraveling the kiss of obsession… I took that chance. Then I left you like you were an actual Soremni female instead of a Siren who had supercharged the water, waiting for you to panic. Your voice charges the water, your emotion moves it. The ocean was alive. I could feel it, but it didn’t start crushing Terramore until you saw me fighting off the Crustique. The good news is that we learned about your range and your capacity for control. You can’t sing in Cierdeep. Other than that, I see no need to change any of your plans. You worked so hard to become a Soremni. We wouldn’t want to waste that.”

  He was quiet and I heard a thumping sound. “I wrote you a song. It’s terrible. I hate singing. I hate it more than possibly anything else in the world. My father would have me perform as often as possible, trained by the world-renowned Madame Claria. The first time I ran away was right before a performance. I’m just saying this so you don’t expect me to do it again. It’s my apology. It’s so bad. Ahem.”

  The guitar chords were clumsy. He clearly hadn’t practiced much. He could have just made it with the box’s synthetic instruments. They were amazing, but not quite real. I could hear the difference.

  “From the top of the bleachers you screamed my name, I thought I was dreaming. You couldn’t feel the same. You tortured me with cookies completely inedible. Everything but your notation, completely illegible. A mess like you, only I could fix, but I never would because you’re already perfect to me.”

  He cleared his throat. “I told you it was bad. Call me when you get home. I have to do stuff that doesn’t matter. It matters; I just don’t care. I care. I just need you. Gen, don’t hate me. Okay? I sound so insecure. All I have to do is take off my shirt and you’ll faint. While you’re unconscious, I’ll drag you to an incredible concert and you’ll completely forget everything. I know all your weaknesses. I love you. Just don’t speak Soremni around me for awhile. All right? Call me.”

  The track ended and I was left staring at boxie, tears running down my face in spite of having already used up all my tears. I was going to completely dehydrate, like one of those bodies attacked by mummies with all their juices sucked out.

  I blinked and shook my head. Sean wrote me a song. It was pretty terrible, but he was wonderful. I backed up the track and listened to it all over again. After I’d stopped weeping idiotically, I trudged down the stairs. I dragged a kitchen chair over to the phone because sitting on the floor was pathetic.

  I was so not pathetic. He answered before the first ring.

  “Did you listen to it?”

  I nodded like he could see me. “Yeah. I almost finished your song for you but I thought I’d call you first.”

  “It’s finished.” There was a warning in his voice.

  “It’s way too short. You just threw that together in five minutes.”

  “Two.”

  I laughed. “A two-minute sacrifice of epic proportions.” My smile faded. “Sean, how long are you going to be gone?”

  He inhaled sharply. “Why?”

  “I’m not sleeping. It sucks. I thought if you aren’t sleeping and I’m not sleeping, we could not sleep together.”

  “Not sleep together sounds like breeding. Is that what you mean?”

  “No! I mean something else. What?”

  He sighed. “Then we could sleep together. If I’m with you, I’ll be sleeping. A lot. Actually, talking to you is making me tired. Also not killing Oliver. Why does he have a lump on the back of his head? Spyguy won’t tell me anything other than that you were able to tell him no.”

  My stomach cramped as the familiar obsession rushed through me. “What was with you fighting the crab men? How did that earn their allegiance?”

  “Not their allegiance, respect. Haven’t you seen any kung Fu movies? If you fight them well they ask you to join them instead of killing you.”

  “So, they joined you? For what?”

  “For making peace between all of the races instead of war. It’s hard to change public opinion about a species that makes a point to be as barbaric and brutal as possible.”

  “Is that the people Peter came from
?”

  “They’re related. It’s a big deal getting their trust, their respect and agreement. Truthfully, I think they were more impressed after the Siren destroyed Terramore. They took it as a warning to them. Join me or you’d wipe them out.”

  I took a shuddering breath. Terramore. “Did you tell them that?”

  “Maybe I suggested something along those lines.”

  “I’m glad that something useful came out of it. Terramore was so beautiful.”

  “It will be again. Not one person was lost. This will be like a vacation for them. And relations with the neighbors will be improved.”

  “What were the black scary things doing there? Murke, right?”

  “What do you know about them?”

  “They were in the monster cookbook. Their fins are inedible.”

  “Good to know. They were watching. They’re like scavengers looking for carrion. They were there for the dead bodies.”

  “What dead bodies?”

  “The ones they didn’t get to eat. Speaking of eating, go do it.”

  “Oh. I was going to get pizza. I owe Cole.”

  “No you don’t.”

  “I do. He took me to the pea factory.”

  “Cannery. You should stay away from Cole. He doesn’t want to get involved.”

  I twisted the cord around my finger. “I know. I still owe him pizza.”

  “I’ll send one. I’ll send fifty. You don’t owe him anything.”

  “It’s almost like you don’t want me to get pizza with another guy. Weird.”

  “So weird. Go make yourself some of your disgusting macaroni and cheese.”

  “That has no nutritional value. Good thinking.”

  He snort-laughed and my heart ached a tiny bit less. “I’m known for my mental acuity.”

  “When are you coming home?”

  He was quiet for a little while. “Two more days plus travel. I have to organize the Terramore rebuild. I’m involving the Crustique. I’m investing heavily in their own city as well as trying to push through some suits about some patents stolen from them.”

  “What?”

  “They created some tech a long time ago that another company has been making a fortune on ever since. It’s a personal opponent of mine, so I’m taking it too far, probably.”