“This is your clothing allowance, courtesy of the OLG. The same funds that bought those fancy scrubs you love so much, and those attractive rubber flip-flops you are so fond of. And there’s plenty of money left over, trust me.” He tucked his wallet back into his pocket. “You should—” He caught himself and started again. “I hope you will consider choosing something casual for the outdoor festival, and something a little more formal for the ball that follows. Please opt for overnight shipping to be sure everything arrives on time. Shoes, jewelry, hair ornaments—pick out whatever you’d like. The accessories are covered as well.”
Briar wrinkled her nose. “What’s a hair ornament?”
He hoped she was teasing, because he really had no idea. It had sounded legitimate at the time.
“Don’t look so scared. I’m joking. Fancy hair combs and barrettes. I get it.”
She laughed. A bright, joyous sound he could listen to all day. For the rest of his life.
The abstergent would have to wait. He wanted her Agathi intact when she experienced the balloon festival. He anticipated the aftereffects of the abstergent to include grogginess, lethargy, and moderate depression. Of course, all effects would be temporary. But he couldn’t be certain how long they would last. Those types of afflictions wouldn’t mix well with the festivities. The experience could completely overwhelm her senses—and not in a good way.
But Father had allowed him only one week to administer the abstergent to Briar, and that time was almost up. If he waited any longer, what would Caster say? Would he run and tattle to Father, as when they were children? Get Lukas into trouble? A gnawing in the pit of his stomach accompanied the thought of his father’s disapproval.
Briar’s laughter tapered off slowly, leaving sparkles in her eyes and a pink glow on her cheeks. Her smile remained, sweet and genuine, the most beautiful he’d ever seen.
Who cared what his brother thought—or even his father? The only person who mattered was standing before him right now. And making her smile was worth the risk.
12
Briar gazed into the bathroom mirror, turning this way and that. She grabbed the hand mirror from the top drawer of the vanity and turned, holding it up to check her look from behind. The deep-blue silk enhanced her form in all the right places. Feeling Cinderella-ish in the delicate silver heels, she twirled like a little girl, smiling as the skirt fanned about her knees. She absolutely loved this dress. If not for the clunky ankle monitor, the outfit would be ball-perfect.
She carefully slid the formal over her head, returned it to the clothes hanger, and slipped it into the plastic garment bag. She placed the fancy shoes at the bottom before zipping it closed and hanging it on the shower curtain rod.
Time to change into casual wear. And this time, it was for real. Briar’s tummy swirled like an Oklahoma twister. She’d tried the new clothes a dozen times, but this time she would actually be leaving the lab. She pulled the lavender sweater from the hook on the bathroom door and tugged it over her head. Running her fingers around the sweetheart neckline, she shrugged at her reflection. Could use a little bit more up top, but not bad.
“Not bad at all,” she mused, sliding on her new jeans and zipping them. After wearing scrubs day in and day out, it felt good to dress in clothes that actually hugged her body. Clothes that fit. The ankle monitor hindered her from wearing boots, so she’d settled for a pair of canvas shoes—purplish, to match the sweater.
A knock on the door upped tummy-tornado’s status to F-5 on the Fujita scale. “Yes?” she called, shrugging on a light jacket.
“It’s Lukas. Are you ready?”
Briar massaged her midsection. “One more minute, please.” She glanced in the mirror, fluffed a few flattened hairs, and then folded the garment bag over her arm. “Coming.”
~*~
Briar closed her eyes and inhaled. The air smelled wonderful. Crisp and clear with a hint of something sweet on the breeze. Cotton candy, perhaps. Or funnel cake. Some type of delicious festival food. She shaded her eyes and looked at the sky, already dotted with brightly colored balloons. A beautiful contrast to the muted browns and grays of the stony Nevada hills.
“I’m sorry. We’ve got quite a walk ahead of us. I assumed the parking lot would be crowded, but didn’t realize there’d be no spaces closer than a half mile from the gate.” Lukas used his cuffphone to arm the car’s alarm and then stuffed a hand into the pocket of his fancy pants. Not the type of pants she’d call casual. But that was OK—fancy looked good on him. She’d discovered that five days ago, when he’d come to her door dressed in a suit to invite her to the balloon festival.
“Don’t apologize. I’m looking forward to the entire outdoor festival experience. Blisters on my pinky toes, sand in my shoes, shin splints—I want the works!”
“You got it.” He held out a small package. “Gum?”
“Thanks.” She slid a piece of cinnamon gum from the pack.
He grinned and extended an elbow. “Shall we?”
Briar took his arm, her gaze wandering over the crowd as they joined the pilgrimage from the parking lot to the event site.
Children giggled and squealed, some chasing one another through the throng of people. Shoulder-to-shoulder, people from all walks of life chatted excitedly about the festival, some recounting what they’d experienced at other balloon exhibits, others talking about what they hoped to see today. Old men studied the clear blue sky and commented on the wind being just right. Husbands talked about propane tanks and burners, while their wives carried on about all the beautiful balloon colors and designs. A girl who might’ve been Briar’s age complimented her hair.
Briar thanked her and said she liked the girl’s boots.
So, this is what it was like to be part of something. To laugh and talk with people outside her own family. To be normal. To be free. Is this how life would be after abstergent? Because she could definitely get used to it.
“The gate. Finally.” Falling into line at the nearest ticket booth, Lukas slid his wallet from his back pocket and thumbed through the contents.
Briar stood on tiptoe and bobbed her head to see through the crowd. Her breath stilled at the plethora of color awaiting them through the gates. She glanced up at Lukas to find him looking at her, an amused expression on his face. “You haven’t seen anything, yet.” He grinned and turned his attention to the ticket taker who handed him two neon orange wristbands along with his SphereSwipe card and receipt.
“Deluxe package includes entry to the event, fifty dollars’ worth of food and drink items from select vendors, and two ten-dollar souvenirs from the gift shop.” The woman reached into a box on the countertop. “And these.” She placed two pairs of yellow plastic binoculars in front of Briar. “Enjoy the festival.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Lukas stretched one of the rubber bracelets onto his wrist and motioned for Briar to hold out her hand. “Perfect fit,” he said, snapping her band in place.
She held up her wrist admiring the band as if it were a gemstone in the sunlight. “Why, it’s just lovely,” she drawled, giving her eyelashes several exaggerated bats.
“Glad you like it,” Lukas said. “This way, please.”
She scooped up the binoculars and followed Lukas through the turnstile.
“Wow,” she breathed, coming immediately to a standstill in the short grass. “I’ve never seen so many colors in one place.” She handed Lukas a pair of binoculars and brought the other pair to her eyes. “Some of the balloons are shaped like cartoon characters! Hey! I see Bucky Blitz!” She pointed to the bucktoothed animal with black-framed glasses and bright blue hair floating high to the west. “Mouse would pass out from excitement.”
“Mouse?” Lukas sounded confused.
She lowered her binoculars. “A kid I talk to online. He’s a huge fan of Bucky. I cos-play for him sometimes. I still have the blue wig in my purse from the last time we chatted.” Her heart panged when she thought of her little friend. She wondered if Mouse miss
ed her as much as she missed him. She sure hoped not. She couldn’t stand the thought of his small heart aching the way hers did.
“Cause play?”
Briar chuckled and settled the binoculars back over her eyes. The guy was clueless. “Cos-play. C-O-S. It means to dress up in costume. Cartoons, comic book characters, sci-fi—whatever piques your interest.”
“Dressing up in costumes.” Lukas spoke slowly, as if having trouble processing. “For fun.”
“Yes.” She turned to look at him through the binoculars. “Didn’t you ever play dress up as a kid? It’s the same concept. Only there’s no age limit. There are huge communities of us online. You should check it out sometime. Might be just the thing to loosen you up.”
He frowned, the lines in his forehead looking like the ridges of a sand dune through the magnified lenses. “I need loosening up?”
She laughed louder than she meant to. “A little.”
The sheer size of the balloons amazed Briar as they walked farther into the venue. They seemed so much smaller floating above the earth than sitting on the ground. Lukas said something she couldn’t hear. The sound of running motors drowned out his words.
“What?” she asked, cupping her ear. The noise level was much higher near the center of the stadium. She felt that she’d entered the world’s largest blow dryer.
“The envelope,” he said, louder. “That’s what the canvas part of the balloon is called. The pocket that holds the air.” He pointed to one of the huge industrial size fans inflating a balloon with air. The balloon lay on its side, basket and all. “The fans are blowing in cool air. After it’s partially filled, the burners will blow in the heat to make it rise.”
Slowly, the inflated balloon rose from its side, and the basket sat upright on the grass.
Briar tiptoed to put her mouth close to Lukas’s ear. “Seems you know more about balloons than you let on.”
He shrugged. “Only the scientific stuff. The practical stuff I leave to Derby.”
The pilot climbed into the basket and gave the burner another blast. Catching Lukas’s eye, he cupped his mouth and shouted. “Would the two of you like a ride?”
“He’s afraid of heights,” Briar shouted back, getting a kick out of the astonished expression on Lukas’s face.
He jabbed her ribs lightly. “No, thank you.” He waved to the pilot.
“What about a ride for the lady?”
Briar clasped her hands to her chest. “Lukas, can I?” Her insides tickled at the thought.
He shook his head. “Your ankle monitor won’t allow that much distance from the GPS.” He touched his jacket pocket that held the receiver.
Her shoulders dropped. “What if I take the GPS receiver with me? To keep it from being separated from the ankle monitor.” Asking made her feel like an audacious child—but she really, really wanted to go up in that balloon.
“I had to obtain permission from Rosen to bring you here. He gave me a coordinate code to key into the receiver. If either the ankle monitor or receiver travels outside the vicinity, it will send an alert. Two thousand feet in the air is definitely out of the vicinity.” He glanced around. “Besides, it’s too risky. This is a huge festival. People come from all over. OLG personnel could be here as well as ARC representatives. If I hand you the receiver, someone could notice. They’d debunk the project if I broke protocol.”
She glanced around at the children eating cotton candy, staring skyward while the older folks sat in lawn chairs. “I don’t see any men wearing dark suits and sunglasses, whispering into their lapels.”
Geez, was it really that big of a deal? It wasn’t as though she was a hot commodity of some kind. No one even knew who she was.
“I’m sorry. But I have to say no.”
The refusal stung her pride. She felt like a little girl denied ice cream because it would spoil her appetite.
She turned to him, intending to bite out a snide remark. Something in his eyes stopped her. Disappointment. He’d wanted to say yes. Lukas wanted her to take the balloon ride as much as she had—maybe even more.
“No, thank you,” she called to the balloon pilot. “Maybe next year.” She offered him a big smile and a wave.
Lukas’s features relaxed. His shoulders lifted. “Would you like some cotton candy?” She could hear the relief in his voice.
“I’d love some.”
13
Briar’s stomach gave a flip as she stepped toward the lavish ballroom of the Sickle Ridge Event Hall. In the ladies’ hospitality suite, she’d changed into her formalwear and touched up her hair and makeup. Her reflection passed inspection, but there was something about the word “ball” that weakened her resolve—and her knees. It brought to mind princesses, princes, and spoiled debutantes who enjoyed staring down their noses.
She glanced down at the ankle monitor which seemed to have tripled in size and doubled in weight. Why hadn’t she chosen a floor length gown? Her reckless decision to show a little leg came back to haunt her in a big way. The shackle would raise all sorts of questions. It was selfish of her, not to think of how Lukas would feel. With the big black eyesore jutting out, he wouldn’t want to be seen with her. She couldn’t go inside. She’d be humiliated.
The tightness in her chest eased as Lukas stepped toward her. She wouldn’t have to go in alone.
“You look stunning.”
She’d never noticed the amber glow in his dark eyes, and wondered if it had something to do with the sable tuxedo he wore. A deeper look told her it had nothing to do with the suit, and everything to do with her. Her cheeks warmed, and she tore her gaze away. “You don’t look too shabby, either.”
“Thank you. How do you like the tie?”
She ran her fingers down the blue silk. “It’s identical to my dress. But how? You didn’t see it before now.”
He shrugged. “I have my ways.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Derby.”
He chuckled. “A man of many talents.”
Lukas took her arm and led her toward the entrance of the ballroom. Beneath an array of expensive-looking shoes, the marble floor gleamed.
“Speaking of Derby,” she said, “I was hoping to see him and your balloon at the festival today.”
“He told me he was waiting until evening to take it up. Apparently, Reid needed him to run her on some errands today before the ball—teeth bleaching treatment, spray-tan session, limousine rental, a mani-pedi, and something called a French twist—you know, garden variety girl-stuff. Derby was more than happy to oblige. Reid isn’t a fan of the balloon festival, but she’s not one to miss a gathering of high society.”
Great. Reid was slithering around the ballroom. Briar tossed her gaze around the room, trying to spot the woman. She didn’t want to be caught off guard if Reid decided to strike.
No, she wouldn’t to do that. She wouldn’t let Reid spoil her night. So, what if she was there? Briar was the one no more than one hundred feet from Lukas’s side.
“Would you care to dance?” Lukas asked, motioning to the dance floor.
“I don’t really dance. Would you settle for swaying back and forth in one place?”
He chuckled and set his hands on her waist. “Indeed.”
She placed her hands on his shoulders, hoping her cheeks weren’t as red as they felt. She’d never danced with a man before. The only dancing she’d done was alone, to her favorite pop band, behind her locked bedroom door. She gazed up at him, forcing herself not to turn self-conscious and look away. As nerve wracking as it was, she had to admit it was nice. Very nice.
“So,” she said, and cleared her throat. “I’ve been wanting to ask; what exactly do you do at the lab when you’re not prodding me? Is there anything else you know how to do?”
“Believe it or not, I know a lot of things.” He grinned. “But my primary field of study, as you may have guessed, is in the area of leveling.”
“Same as my dad.” She nodded.
“The work your father ac
complished was monumental. I could only dream of making those kinds of strides. Without Windsor Lee’s extensive research, the leveling program would not exist.”
“So, I’ve heard. My dad was some kind of research rock star.” Briar fluttered her eyelashes.
“That, he was,” Lukas agreed. “My father is kind of a rock star too I suppose—but not a rock icon like your dad, at least not yet. He created Stone Labs from scratch, and has extensive knowledge of the leveling field. I’ve studied with him since I was a child. He taught me everything he knows.”
“Which is?”
He shook his head and grinned. “You want me to tell you everything? If I did that, you’d have to dance with me forever.”
“I wouldn’t mind.”
His eyes darkened a shade. “I wouldn’t either.”
“So, tell me, then. What do you cook up?”
“Let’s see…I can make a mean batch of Serum to Accelerate Progressivism, otherwise known as SAP, as well as SAP booster. And as you know, I created a compound affectionately referred to as Stone’s Abstergent to dissolve the Agathi from the brain.”
“Yes, I’m well aware of that one.”
“But for me, the trickiest concoctions of all are antidotes.”
“What’s so complicated about antidotes?”
“Lukas! There you are!” From out of nowhere, Reid’s voice cut though their conversation, shattering Briar’s good time.
“Reid,” Lukas said curtly.
“And lookie there. It’s Briar Rose!” She laughed, snorting as she raised her nearly empty wineglass in a mock-toast. “Lukas, did you realize Sleeping Beauty’s real name was Briar Rose? Isn’t that fitting? Because Briar’s personality puts me right to sleep.” She laughed again, and downed what was left of her wine. “Waiter! Come take this!” She held the stemware above her head.
Lukas stopped swaying, but kept a firm grip on Briar’s waist. “If you don’t mind, Briar and I are sharing a dance at the moment.”
Reid stared at Lukas and did a few sways of her own. For a split-second Briar thought either Reid’s wineglass or entire body would crash to the floor.
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