Cheating Time

by T. R. Graves

  Jayden bowed his chest. "Yes, she is, but she's unlike any I've ever met. She doesn't consider herself better than us. In her eyes, we are her equal." Jayden reached around and intertwined his fingers with mine. "We're together, and I love her more than I love anyone or anything. She'd never betray me or any other Surrogate. I'll stake my life on that."

  I love her.

  I love her.

  A Surrogate admitting aloud he loves a Procreate.

  As if his words were the catalyst that opened the floodgates for a love-based hormone, warmth bloomed in my chest and spread throughout my entire body. I stood stunned. I was too surprised to do or say anything. When Jayden squeezed my hand tight, I glanced up and saw he was waiting for something. A response.

  My face flushed and my smile was shy when I squeezed his hand back. It wasn't the public declaration he'd made, but he knew I'd at least partially forgiven him.

  Snapping our attention back to him, Sean began with a new round of coughing and ended up with another palm of bloody sputum. I jumped into action.

  "I'll go and get Thorne," I said to Jayden.

  I tried to pull my hand back so I could dash back toward the camp without a second's delay. Jayden refused to let go of my hand.

  "No. I can't leave you wondering around the forest by yourself. You've already almost died twice this week," he said.

  I wrinkled my brow and he answered my unspoken question. "The snakes and the Outcasts. The forest isn't safe. Sean and I are going to change clothes. We're all going back toward the camp. Before we make it all the way into the perimeter, Simon and I will take cover within the forest. You and Sean will stroll back to the infirmary and pretend as if Sean is me and I need my MicroPharm refilled." Jayden's glare turned toward Sean. "I'm assuming you have a MicroPharm?"

  Sean nodded. "Yeah, but it's been empty for a while."

  "You get Thorne to check him over good, give him whatever he needs to get better, and refill the MicoPharm. If he won't do that, tell him I won't help carry out his father's plans to get the three of you—you, him, and Rorie—away from Barone. Do you understand me?"

  I focused on Jayden's every word, analyzing his plan for holes. It was as solid as it got. I nodded.

  With a wink, Jayden said, "I know you'd love nothing more than to see me stripped naked, but you'd be forced to see my doppelgänger in the nude if you stayed, so I'd like you to go back out into the tunnel and keep your back to the cavern while we change. As soon as we're finished, we'll meet you out there."

  Jayden gave me one last reassuring squeeze before leaning down and kissing me thoroughly. He was taking full advantage of my disadvantage and, I suspected, making sure Sean understood just how close we really were. That I am a Procreate who can be trusted.

  His motives were irrelevant. His kiss left me breathless and dazed. I wanted to squeeze myself into him and demand more, but Sean and Simon were standing slack-jawed staring at us. The last thing I wanted or needed was an audience.

  Jayden leaned into my ear and palmed my cheek. "I've been trying to tell you I love you all day… that I'll never do anything to put you in danger… and beg you to trust me no matter what Barone says. I know more than you give me credit for. I won't let him hurt you. I swear," he whispered before giving me one last tight squeeze and releasing me to stumble my way to the cave's tunnel. To wait for them to change and for me to enlist Thorne's help.

  What if he refuses? What if he turns us in to Barone?

  Without a doubt, he'd do whatever put Rorie in the least amount of danger. What I didn't know was which of his options that would be. Would it be the option where he pretended as if Sean were Jayden, treating him and then letting him go before anyone was the wiser, or would it be the option where he turned us in and risked his father's plans for Jayden to get us to the secret safe house Dr. Angleton and Gran built for us, one that no one—not even my parents—knew about.

  When the three men joined me in the tunnels, I was shocked again at just how much Sean looked like Jayden. If I hadn't known they were changing clothes, I'd have instantly sidled up to the man dressed as Jayden had been earlier. Fortunately, I knew better. I walked over to the real Jayden and slid my hand into his.

  For some reason, I naïvely thought touching him would give me the comfort I needed to prove he was my Surrogate Soldier. His touch was familiar and his squeeze reassuring as we headed back to camp.

  The only break we took was when Simon slowed and ordered the panthers to heel, which they instantly did.

  In a distant way, it occurred to me that these panthers were the four-legged versions of a Dominant Soldier. Fiercely loyal and unconditionally subservient.

  Barone would love them.

  Chapter 28

  Cat Fight

  Carlie

  My heart was beating so fast, hard, and loud that I was sure everyone walking through the forest with us could hear it. Jayden kept me close and smoothed his thumb over the back of my hand, doing everything in his power to calm my nerves.

  Under normal circumstances, my MicroPharm would have been doing the trick, and whatever nerve it wasn't able to calm, Jayden's gentle kindness would have taken care of. I was just too afraid of what we were walking into. I was too afraid of getting caught.

  About half a mile away from the camp, Jayden came to a stop. He pulled me back into him.

  "Don't be anxious. If you are, they'll suspect something's wrong. Just treat him like he's the jerk you know I can be. That's what Barone expects," Jayden said with a knowing smirk.

  Nervous, I smiled back. "I'll do my best."

  "You'll do fine. I've watched you for years and I've never once been disappointed," Jayden said warmly.

  "That's not what my mentor has said," I countered.

  Jayden shrugged. "Your mentor is an asshole." He leaned over and kissed my head apologetically. "Listen… all I ever wanted was for you to be with me. If I hadn't pushed you, you'd have joined your mother in the lab and I'd have never seen you. I think we've established the fact that I'm a selfish ass who will do whatever he has to in order to get his way. There's no sense rehashing old news."

  I rolled my eyes at him. "You, my dysfunctional friend, and I have lots of talking to do," I scolded.

  "We will. I promise. Let's get Sean taken care of, and we'll talk about anything you want to talk about. After I prove to you what a horrible person I am, I want to find out why Sean looks just like me. I need to know if we are triplets who were separated, or if all of my parents' children look exactly alike."

  I nodded. "I have to admit I'm curious myself."

  Based on the catcalls and whistles, there was something going on in the camp. I had no idea what it was, but it seemed like the perfect camouflage for sneaking Sean into the camp without anyone noticing.

  Jayden turned toward Sean with a malevolent grin and said, "She's more important to me than you'll ever know. Take care of her, and I'll take care of Simon for you."

  Sean looked over at his brother, who was watching the two men with obvious fascination. Gritting his jaw, Sean nodded his acquiescence.

  Without a word between us, I headed back toward the camp and knew by the cracking of twigs behind me—something Jayden would never do—that Sean was trailing.

  It seemed like the entire camp was gathered in a circle, hooting and hollering. It was at that moment I realized it was Jayden's responsibility as Lead Surrogate to take control of these situations. I needed him to do that sooner rather than later since Barone was onsite.

  "Sean, Jayden's the Lead Surrogate. He'd be the one responsible for calming these people down," I whispered.

  "Jiminy Christmas! Why couldn't my dear brother be a normal Surrogate who wouldn't draw the attention of the entire camp to me?"

  His question was rhetorical so I made no effort to answer him.

  He grabbed my hand so we wouldn't be separated and dragged me to the middle of the circle. There, I found the last thing in the world I ever expected. Kali and Jenny were r
olling around on the ground, kicking, biting, and scratching each other.

  Under his breath, Sean said, "Holy shit!"

  Proof positive that he was at least some relationship to Jayden, he took a few more seconds than necessary to appreciate the battle before him. Then he put a finger in each corner of his mouth and whistled so loudly my ears echoed.

  "Everyone get back to your post. There's nothing here to see," Sean ordered.

  Like roaches running from light, the group dispersed the instant they thought the Lead Surrogate was on the scene. Everyone that is but Kali and Jenny. Jayden's whistle barely registered. They were too focused on tearing the other's eyes out.

  Sean may have been sick, but he still had enough strength to grab both girls by the back of their shirts and hold them apart. As soon as it registered with them that the only other man on the planet nearly as beautiful as Jayden was holding them by the scruff of their necks like they were wayward dogs, they both began composing themselves, smoothing down their hair and tucking it behind their ears and straightening their clothes.

  "What the hell is this all that about?" Sean asked, making it clear neither was going anywhere until they answered his question.

  A rebellious Jenny took the lead. "This one here"—she nodded her head toward Kali—"is claiming I've been telling people she's sleeping with lots of the men here in camp. She claims she's only slept with Dr. Angleton. In order to save her virtue and convince Dr. Angleton he's the only person she's slept with, she's blaming her big mouth and moral indiscretions on me."

  Yelling louder than necessary and with enough force for her words to carry to anyone near, Kali took over after a bat of her lashes so everyone would think she was a lot more innocent than I suspected she was. "I-I…" She gulped like an Academy Award-winning actress. "Have only spent time with Dr. Angleton. She knows that, but when others ask if I've spent time with other men, she—my roommate—won't corroborate the truth, and it makes it look like I'm lying."

  "She wants me to say something I don't know to be true. I have a life of my own, and I work too many nights to be her alibi," Jenny complained.

  "Nobody's asking you to speak to something you don't know. I'm simply asking that you speak about what you do know," Kali said, looking toward Jenny as if she'd like to jump on her again.

  Jenny might have been almost a foot shorter than Kali, but she wasn't prepared to back down. She did, however, lower her voice so she could be as discrete as possible. "I won't say it because it isn't true. You've had more than Dr. Angleton in our tent, and I won't pretend you haven't no matter how much you bully me. You messed up with him. Not me."

  "You're jealous," Kali defended. "You're lying because you're jealous. What you need to know is even if he's not with me, he'd never take a second glance at anyone as pixie small as you."

  Jenny tried to jerk from Sean's grip. She had every intention of letting Kali know what she thought of being called small.

  Sean jerked her back. "All right, little one, you need to go to your tent, pack your things, and find a new place to bunk. It sounds like there's a rotating door to this one's bed. That can't be comfortable for you."

  Kali looked affronted by Sean's comment. Sean ignored her indignation. "You… if you're ashamed of what you do, why do you do it? I've never understood that mentality. If you want to sleep with more than one guy, embrace it. Stop pretending as if you're the innocent virgin… because there's not a guy here that buys that act. Give her time to pack her things, go back to your tent, and stay there and out of trouble. If you cause any more, I'm going to throw you out in this forest by yourself so fast your head is going to spin. You got me?"

  Putting on her victim face, Kali pulled away from Sean and glanced toward the infirmary like she wanted to go crying to Thorne. Instinctively, I wanted to protect him from her lies.

  "Thorne's about to be busy. He doesn't have time for your drama," I added before she could head his way.

  Sean glanced over at me and raised his brows. After Kali stormed off, he said, "It seems to me you have more than one love interest."

  I shook my head and rolled my eyes. "I don't. I just can't stand the thought of Thorne spending time with the likes of her. He's too good for her."

  "Yeah… no interest at all," Sean said right before he began coughing again.

  Cough… cough… cough…

  "Where's the infirmary?"—cough—"I need to get this over, let Jayden get back to his duties, and get the hell out of"—cough—"here," Sean insisted.

  I agreed and headed straight for the infirmary. I opened the tent's flap and stepped inside. After basking in the bright sunny day, it took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust and make out what I was seeing inside the dark clinical tent.

  Thorne—oblivious to the fight that had been brewing just a few feet from his door and on his behalf—was leaning over a Surrogate and stitching up a cut. The clinician deep inside of me, the one who knew she'd one day be a doctor, kept walking until I was standing on the other side of the bed and studying Thorne's every move.

  Thorne was so engrossed in what he was doing, it took a few minutes before he realized he had an audience. Sean was standing next to me, watching just as intently.

  When Thorne did glance up and see me, he did a double take and completely stopped what he was doing.

  "What the hell happened to you? Are you covered in your own blood?"

  He scooted his stool back and was about to dash toward me, but I waved him down.

  "It's not mine. It's not even human blood. A boar tried to attack me. Jayden killed it. The blood is from the animal," I lied with an ease that should have frightened me.

  "I-I've been worried. I saw that your vital signs spiked earlier. I-I didn't know if"—he cleared his throat—"if you were okay."

  I wanted to offer a snarky remark about him sleeping around with Kali, but it was clear he'd really been worried. He didn't need any shit from me.

  "I'm sorry, Thorne. I didn't mean to worry you. Really," I said, looking at the procedure with a new set of eyes, ones that were trying to figure out how much longer Thorne had before he'd be finished.

  As if reading my mind, he said, "I'll be finished in about ten minutes. We can talk more then."

  Cough… cough… cough…

  Thorne's eyes darted toward his new patient. His newest concern was acute. He'd seen Jayden hours ago, and since that time, he'd developed a wet, wheezy cough and he sounded as near death as he probably was.

  Thorne never said a word, but he sped up the sewing of the Surrogate's wound. He had him up and out quicker than I would have thought possible but long enough for Sean to erupt into no less than half a dozen coughing fits.

  As soon as the nameless, faceless Surrogate was out the door, Thorne rounded on Jayden.

  "What the hell is wrong with you? You weren't coughing at all last night? Now you sound like you have one foot in the grave. Carles, change the sheet on that stretcher and get him on it. I need to call my attending. Whatever he has is serious given the speed with which it's accelerating." Thorne walked over to his desk and slipped on a pair of MicroGlasses.

  Right before he tapped the side of them, notifying his attending he had an emergency, I grabbed his hand and said, "Thorne… there's something I need to tell you before you get in contact with anyone. Is there someplace you and I can talk that is completely private? Keep in mind that the information I'm about to share with you could put Rorie in danger if it got out."

  That caught Thorne's attention. He snatched off the lenses, logged off, and shut down his computer and phone. He glanced around the room and finally said, "I'm assuming you can tell me whatever you need to tell me in front of Jayden."

  I nodded because he was right. I could tell my secrets in front of Jayden, only this wasn't Jayden. I grabbed Thorne's hand and led him over to the corner of the tent where the linen was kept. I hoped the sheet and towels and my whispering would buffer my secrets from Sean and the outside world.

  "Pl
ease swear to me that you'll hear me out before you do anything," I begged.

  Thorne studied me long and hard before saying, "As long as Rorie isn't in immediate danger, I'll hear you out. Until I know what you have to tell me, I can't make any promises about what I'll do."

  I nodded. "I understand, and I'll understand no matter what. I wouldn't do anything that would put my family in any more danger than they're already in so there won't be any judgment on my part," I promised.

  My whispered words got lower. "That's not Jayden over there," I said, nodding my head in Sean's direction. "We believe Jayden was one of three, triplets. This is Sean."

  Anxious, Thorne glanced around as if he thought I was working for Barone and testing his reaction to potential treasonous activities.

  "Remember… you agreed to hear me out."

  Thorne nodded, but he was running his hands through his hair and shaking his head in disbelief.

  "We were in the woods and got attacked."

  Thorne tipped his forehead toward my bloody clothes. I nodded.

  "Jayden fought and killed three Outcasts. There was a fourth one… only it was a Down syndrome Surrogate." I waited to see if the significance registered with Thorne. When it did, I continued. "He'd been with the Outcasts and had been deathly afraid of us. With them dead, he didn't know what to do.

  "We've spent so much time with and have grown so fond of Rorie that we couldn't leave him in the forest to fend for himself. After he really saw Jayden, he insisted we follow him. He took us to a cave. There, we found four panthers and Jayden's doppelgänger, a man we believe might be his brother. Simon, the Anomaly who led us to Sean, is with Jayden now."

  "All of this happened this morning, Carles?"

  My head bobbed. "Yes. Neither Jayden nor I have ever met either of them before. We had no idea either of them existed. I swear. Now that we know Sean is about to die and he's the only person who can or will look after Simon, their brother, we have to help him."

  Thorne softened. "I was able to help you, Carles, but I'm not a miracle worker. He'll need tests in order for me to find out what's wrong with him. Then I'll have to consult my attendings."