The Stranger Trilogy Box Set

by Isadora Brown

  Daryl narrowed his eyes at his brother. “Why are you so intent on getting to campus?” he asked, not bothering to hide the suspicion in his voice.

  Marvin said nothing, but looked Daryl in the eye. Jane wasn’t sure what that meant, but she saw Daryl’s jaw pop, and he looked away, nodding his head once. The odd trio headed back to the entrance, which was all but destroyed, and walked through. Ethan would need to fix the gate and the key code pad immediately, especially if their security was threatened.

  When they stepped through, Jane’s eyes took in the sight of the building and her mouth dropped. The entire second story was in shambles, with broken windows and damage to the building from the gunfire. The grass was stomped on and already dying, and the garage was destroyed. The metal was bent and broken. Jane didn’t think it would be possible to get inside unless she went through the school’s entrance, which was long and inconvenient.

  “Why did he do this?” Jane asked, still in disbelief. AckPec had always been a safe place she could go to where no one would threaten peculiars because no one knew peculiars existed. If they had, it wouldn’t be intelligent for them to attack a group of students and faculty who could shift into animals, read minds, or perform telekinesis.

  “For you, girlie,” Marvin said, without thinking. “He wants you, and he thought you were here.”

  “Shut up,” Daryl said between his teeth.

  “Why would he want me?” Jane asked as they made their way to the building. “I’m still a student. I have no idea what I’m doing half the time.”

  “They probably prefer it that way,” Marvin said, turning his head and looking down at Jane. “If you haven’t been fully trained yet, they can train you their way and you won’t put up much of a fight.”

  When they reached the doorway, all Marvin had to do was push it open. The key code pad for that had been destroyed, leaving the door ajar. If Arbuckle’s men wanted to go inside and do more damage, they could have. However, it looked like they remained outside for some reason, content to fire their weapons and implement damage, but not to harm individuals.

  “This doesn’t make any sense,” Jane muttered to herself as they stepped inside. “Why would they destroy the Ack Building. If I’m what they wanted, why go to the trouble of destroying a building? I wasn’t even here.”

  “That’s a good question, darling,” Marvin said, following her inside.

  “Where is everybody?” she asked, looking over her shoulder. It was too still, too quiet, to the point where there was an eeriness that seemed to envelope them with a snug grasp and cause shivers to slide down their backs.

  “Base,” Daryl said, leading the way. “It’s where we’re going.”

  “Base,” Jane murmured to herself. “I should have known that.”

  It didn’t take long before they were in the Dining Hall and heading down the stairs and into the basement. Jane recognized it from the annual drills Ethan made the students participate in just in case something like this were to happen. They could hear voices and laughing, and Jane felt herself relax for the first time in what felt like a long time.

  To be honest, she had no idea what had happened to her between fainting at the gala and waking up at Michael’s place. From what Marvin told her, she had been out for at least a week, which meant she had no idea what had happened to her in those seven days. She couldn’t remember. It was as though those days didn’t exist to her. She had no idea how she could be unconscious for that long unless …

  Unless someone kept her that way on purpose.

  How? And why would Michael want her unconscious?

  In fact, why would Michael want her at all?

  It didn’t make any sense, and the more Jane thought about it, the more her head hurt.

  When Ethan saw Jane, he smiled at her. It wasn’t one of excitement and relief; if anything, it was as though he knew she would return to them safely, like he hadn’t worried about her safety at all. She wasn’t sure how that made her feel, but if Ethan wasn’t worried, perhaps she shouldn’t be, either.

  It was Sophie that caused Jane to get a tad emotional. Jane hadn’t even noticed her friend when she was practically tackled to the floor, squeezed in a tight hug, and the words, “I’m sorry” whispered over and over and over again.

  When Sophie finally released her, Jane tilted her head to the side. “What, exactly, are you sorry for?” she asked, genuinely confused.

  “We thought you had been shot,” Sophie explained, her face now the color of her hair. “You collapsed after Arbuckle’s gun went off. I-I,” she curled her hair behind her ear, “I told everyone to leave. I made them leave you behind. I thought you were dead.”

  Jane’s brow pushed up. “So it worked?” she asked, a smile sliding onto her face.

  “So what worked?” Daryl asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

  She glanced back at him. “I knew we weren’t going to make it out if something wasn’t done,” she told him. “I wish I could say I came up with a plan myself and executed it with perfection, but the minute I saw him point that gun at you, I lost it. I pulled the trigger so it would distract everyone, but the energy it took caused me to collapse. The shot caused chaos and chaos is dangerous, so I reached into Sophie’s mind and told her to get everyone and leave. My intention was to fake my death and slip away while everyone was running around, but it was too much for me to handle and I ended up fainting. I don’t remember much of anything until I finally woke up.”

  “Yeah, about that,” Marvin said, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. “Might we go somewhere private, say, Ethan’s office? We really need to talk.”

  “I think that’s a good idea,” Ethan agreed with a nod of his head. “We’ll just wait for the search party to get back, and then we can go.”

  “Where’s Will?” Jane asked.

  “Search party,” Sophie replied. She still seemed puzzled. “Wait, so you forced me to leave you behind? Why would you do that? I thought … I thought I left you, Jane. The past week I’ve been racked with guilt. I thought it was all my fault.”

  Jane’s heart stopped, looking at her friend. “I’m so sorry, Sophie,” she said. “I didn’t mean … I didn’t really think. I had no idea what I was doing. I was going off instinct. I was testing. All I cared about was getting you guys out. I didn't even know what the consequences would be. I just needed to get you guys out before Arbuckle snagged all of us. Like I said, my plan was to pretend to be dead and sneak out while everyone ran. Maybe I could control a couple of the soldiers. I don't know. I just knew I needed you guys out."

  Sophie pressed her lips together but nodded her head. From the stone-like quality of her eyes to tightness of her lips, Jane could tell Sophie wasn't one hundred percent pleased with that answer, but wasn't going to press the issue. For that, Jane was grateful. She was too tired to argue, in too much pain to think. Her back was still sore from Dianna's attack, and it felt as though she had been sleeping on it the past week. On top of that, her head was starting to pinch in the same way it normally did before a fainting spell. Without realizing what she was doing, Jane reached out and took Daryl's hand. Somehow, his touch made her feel like she was in solid ground. It made her feel safe, protected, and if she did fall, she was certain he would catch her.

  He didn't squeeze her hand back, but he also didn't drop it. To Jane, that was a good amount of progress. She knew they were in front of people—professors, students, Ethan—and she should release her hold on him, but she didn't. It was selfish and immature, but she didn't care. She needed him, and it wasn't as though he was pushing her away, either.

  "While we wait," Daryl said, "I want Kessler to check her out. We still have no idea what happened to her while she was gone, and it's imperative we ensure she's okay."

  "Clearly, the girl is fine," Marvin said, exasperated. "We need to—"

  "If you don't shut your goddamn mouth, I will do it for you," Daryl said in a low hiss. His black eyes got even blacker so they completely to
ok over his eyes causing the white to look like a distant moon. It was almost scary how intimidating he could be. "She is going to get checked out by Kessler down here somewhere private, and there is nothing you can say that will change my mind." He waited a beat for Marvin to say something snide, but his older brother remained silent.

  Jane smirked. He was smarter than he looked. And that was saying something.

  13

  The minute Brielle heard the door slam open, being ripped by an unseen force from its hinges to splinter open, she immediately shifted into a swan, extended her wings, and flew. She reached the jagged edges of the shattered glass and realized she wouldn’t be able to get through the opening. Her heart thumped like a hummingbird’s, and she turned to face her attacker …

  Only to realize it was a wolf.

  Not only that, but a familiar one.

  Will.

  She would know him as a wolf anywhere. He was the one who trained shifters. She had watched him transform numerous times, captivated by the elegant way he would shift from human to wolf in one fluid motion. She was still working out the kinks in her own transformation, but Will was always there to help.

  Will’s hazel eyes found her, and when he saw that she knew it was him, he nodded his head toward the door. She nodded, gesturing at her clothes that had dropped during her attempt at a hasty escape. He nodded once and left, giving her privacy to turn back into a human and get dressed.

  When she finished, she walked back out. Will was waiting for her, still as a wolf, and they headed back down to the first floor with Will leading the way. They entered the Dining Hall and then found base, where Brielle climbed under the professor’s table and opened up the passageway. It wasn’t long before both were secure.

  Brielle's body went off like a million fireflies resting on her skin. Her brown eyes caught sight of Kessler, and she watched as he noticed her as well. Those crystal clear blue eyes filled with discernible relief, and she watched as his jaw locked and he swallowed. Neither made a move to walk toward each other—in fact, if Brielle was being honest, it appeared as though he was busy looking over someone at the moment, though she couldn't tell who.

  It didn't matter.

  He was okay and safe, and the fact that she could read him so easily, even for just a fraction of a second, made her heart swell like a mosquito bite. Her face flooded with warmth, but she didn't particularly care. He was there, and so was she, and just being in the same room with him was enough to ease her worry and give her strength.

  She knew she still had to go through with it. She had to tell Ethan and Sophie and Will and everybody else everything once and for all.

  And, when the time was right, she would.

  Sophie's eyes flooded with relief the minute she saw Will and Brielle come down the stairs. It took everything inside of her to refrain from dashing over there and making a big spectacle. Now was not the time. Not when Jason was here. Not when his friends, other professors, and even Ethan were here. However, she couldn't stop a big smile from sliding onto her face if she tried. She covered her mouth with her hands, as though she wanted to maintain the smile so it wouldn't break free from her face and shine down on everyone. His eyes met hers and she shook herself out of her stupor, grabbing his pair of jeans and heading over to him.

  He disappeared behind an orderly shelf stacked with cans of various foods, and Sophie pulled Brielle into a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're okay," she said. "Where were you?"

  Sophie wasn't certain, but Brielle looked uncomfortable. Her chin wrinkled and her lips got tight. "Ethan's office," she replied. "Will found me. I'd still be there if it weren't for him." She shot Will a shaky smile, and Will nodded in return.

  Was it Sophie's imagination, or was Will actually blushing? Sophie snickered to herself, and she thought she heard Will say something along the lines of, "I can hear you, kid." However, this only caused her to laugh louder, but as she continued to stifle it, she snorted.

  "Is that—" Brielle stopped herself and a huge intake of relief climbed onto her face. "Jane."

  Sophie smiled in return, but she didn't need to be a mental to know that something was off. The relief on Brielle's face was genuine, but there was something about it that wasn't quite right. She couldn't put her finger on it; it was just a gut feeling she had, and decided to store away until further notice.

  "Brie-girl," a voice said from behind the duo. Brielle jumped and spun around on the heel of her shoe, nearly tripping over herself. "There you are. Our circle of trust is complete."

  "Brie-girl?" Sophie asked.

  "How do you know my brother, Ms. Rivera?" Depogare asked, his brow furrowed. He continued to remain by Jane's side throughout her impromptu medical exam—she was sitting in a metal fold up chair for crying out loud—but his black eyes narrowed in Brielle's direction with suspicion.

  "I—"

  "Don't be shy," Marvin teased, leaning against the back of a bookcase, hands loose in his pockets. All he needed was a fedora and a toothpick and he'd look like a gangster from the thirties. "Tell 'em everything. Don't leave anything out now."

  Sophie glanced around. Their group consisted of Jane and Depogare, Dr. Kessler, herself and Will, Brielle, Marvin, and Ethan. It was deep in base, so nobody would overhear their conversation, and there wasn't anywhere a curious observer could hide without being detected. If shrouded secrecy was required, this place had it. From Marvin's teasing, he knew the majority of what Brielle was going to say, which made no sense to Sophie whatsoever. How the two of them could get tangled up, she had no idea. But she was prepared to hear Brielle out, so she slid to the hard floor, leaned back against the metal shelving, and made sure she was comfortable. She had a feeling it was going to be a long story.

  And it was.

  Brielle told them everything. About her past. About her parents. About Cillian. About Ultra, and how Michael got ahold of her. About why she was still helping Michael. About how she knew about Marvin. About what Marvin was doing there. About every last thing.

  And when she finished, her shoulders sagged forward as though the heavy stones she was carrying suddenly dropped, and she could finally breathe again. In fact, she was smiling. A true, genuine, free smile.

  Sophie blinked once, twice, then looked up at Will. Will looked blank, which was interesting because his default face was usually cranky. However, it was as though he had no idea how to react, so his system shut down and the look on his face matched the feeling he felt—a rarity for the shifter.

  Sophie had no idea what to feel. This was a lot to take in. It wasn’t as though Brielle had betrayed them, per se, but she hadn’t been honest with anyone. And that felt like betrayal. Sophie liked Brielle. A lot. She considered the Aqua resident a close friend, which was something Sophie did not have much of for this exact reason. It felt like the drop on an elevator; she was blindsided and nauseous and not sure how she was going to handle the fallout.

  One thing she did feel was frustration. At herself. She had lived the majority of her life on her own, using her instinct to guide her on her way. She prided herself on her innate knowledge of who to trust and who not to. This felt like a shot at that. Her own parents betrayed her, so she certainly was familiar with the feeling. She just wished the experience had translated over to her friends. Maybe she had been so desperate to belong, she had lowered her walls, willing to let people in more just to make some connection with someone.

  She clenched her jaw.

  Brielle, working with Michael. Brielle, all this time, knowing where Jane was and saying nothing.

  Sophie was gobsmacked. She had no idea what to do. No idea how to feel. She felt empty and full at the same time, like trying to find a word on a blank sheet of paper. She hated the feeling.

  Her eyes looked over at Jane, and her heart gripped. It was clear the blonde was trying not to cry. She was putting on a brave face at the knowledge that her friend—closer than Sophie and Brielle were—had deceived her.

  One look at Depogare, and
Sophie was grateful the worst he had ever called her was the color of her hair. The look on his face could crack ice, and he wasn’t bothering to mask it. She didn’t think it was possible to visualize hate, but he changed that. His pupils camouflaged with his irises, and his lips thrashed back into a snarl. His was gripping his knees so tightly, Sophie was sure his slacks were now permanently wrinkled. If Jane hadn’t reached out to touch him, he would have lost it.

  Actually, scratch that.

  Depogare looked at Jane the minute she placed her hand over his, but the minute he saw the look on her face—the slow-falling tears, the trail of salt water making eclipses on her cheeks, the way her green eyes were emerald with water, the way her chin quivered, as though it were the dam holding the onslaught of tears at bay—he lost it. Really lost it.

  Abruptly, the Aqua professor stood, pushing his chair back with a scrape against the tile. In eight strides, Depogare reached his brother, and without warning, he punched his brother across the jaw so hard Marvin lost his balance and hit his head on the floor. Depogare didn’t seem to care, because he mounted Marvin and reached back as though he was about to strike him again when Marvin put his hands up in order to protect his face.

  “Baby brother!” he exclaimed, the usual teasing amusement void from his voice. “Baby brother! You owe me a favor! You owe me a favor!”

  Depogare stopped mid-punch. “And you would like to use it now?” he asked in a low, controlled voice.

  Marvin nodded enthusiastically. “No more punching!” he said. “The favor I want from you is that you cannot inflict any sort of harm on me any time you feel the desire to.”

  Sophie furrowed her brow. That was an odd request. What else could Marvin do to illicit such a response …?