by K. K. Perez
“Why would you say that?”
“Oh, just some of the things he said … like how he designed the induction motor—they sound a little, um, mystical.”
She flipped through the book in a frenzy. “Here! Tesla would recite poetry to himself as he walked around in Budapest. It’s a passage by a German poet named Goethe.” Lucy was no expert in dramatic readings—that’s why she hid backstage—but she gave it her best shot.
“The glow retreats; done in the day of toil; It yonder hastes, new fields of life exploring.” Her breathing became more rapid as she spoke, her heart nearly flying out of her rib cage. “Ah, that no wing can lift me from the soil, Upon its track to follow, follow soaring!”
Sparks coursed through Lucy as Ravi watched her from the corner of his eye. Metaphorical sparks.
“Tesla recounted the verses while admiring the retreating sun and the motor just designed itself in his head,” she continued. “I like sunsets as much as the next girl, but they’ve never revealed the secret to using alternating current to create mechanical power to me.”
Ravi laughed. “I see your point. Mystical. I’ve heard the passage before. It’s from a play called Faust. Have you read it?”
A blush straggled across Lucy’s cheeks. How could she think she’d be telling him anything he didn’t know?
“In the legend, Faust is a scholar who makes a pact with the devil,” Ravi said. “Faust trades his soul for infinite knowledge.”
“You think Tesla traded his soul?”
A hearty laugh rumbled in Ravi’s chest but that didn’t prevent the chills from racing down Lucy’s spine.
“I’m interested in alchemy. Science. Not Satanism.”
Lucy swallowed in response. The cookie-cutter houses of Salisbury Street whizzed by in a blur. She sensed Ravi’s eyes on her but kept hers trained on the automatic sprinklers and crocus-adorned window boxes.
“Those verses have always reminded me more of Icarus, actually,” he said.
Lucy knew the Greek myth well. Icarus’s father, Daedalus, was a master craftsman who fashioned two pairs of wings from feathers and wax. Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too high or the blazing sun would melt the wax. Icarus didn’t listen. Drunk on flying, he soared higher and higher until there were no feathers left. He plunged into the sea. Lost forever.
A new tide of chills deluged Lucy. “You think Tesla flew too close to the sun?”
With a shrug, Ravi replied, “He did fall from grace.”
Lucy had read how Tesla lost all of his investors—and his social standing—because of his obsession with man-made lightning. But what had happened to her in his lab seemed to suggest he’d succeeded.
“Maybe that’s why he’s left out of textbooks,” said Lucy.
Ravi made a noncommittal noise. “Maybe.”
“Stop!”
He slammed on the brakes. “You okay?”
“Yes. Sorry. Sorry. It’s just—we passed my house.”
“Bollocks.” He readjusted his glasses. “You gave me a fright.”
Mortification fizzed through Lucy as Ravi cautiously performed a U-turn and she indicated her front lawn. Lucy should have hurled herself from the Land Rover when she’d had the chance.
When he’d come to a full and complete stop, she said, “Thanks for the ride. Sorry for almost getting you killed.”
A short laugh. “Never a dull moment with you. Cheers for the debate.”
Lucy freed herself from the seat belt, face still hot. “Well…” She trailed off and reached for the handle.
“Wait—I meant to give this to you after class.” He shut off the ignition. “Hold on.” He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket. “I felt badly I couldn’t retrieve your family heirloom from that rapscallion.”
Rapscallion. It was unfairly sexy when he used words like that.
Her eyes widened as he withdrew an oval stone the color of midnight, about the size of a quarter. It was smooth, its surface cut so that it resembled interlocking diamonds.
“Tessellation,” she said.
Ravi flashed her the knowing smile of one geek to another.
“It’s not an egg, but it is an oval—from the Latin ovum, or egg.”
Lucy had thought of that too, and it was so, so wrong that her next thought was that Cole never would.
Her cheeks were sore from smiling. “It’s beautiful,” she gushed. “But totally unnecessary. I can’t—”
Oh. He placed it in the palm of her hand and the cool surface provided instant relief—to what exactly, Lucy wasn’t sure.
“I did some research of my own,” he said. “About seizures.”
Lucy’s fight-or-flight response most often kicked in during these kinds of conversations but all she felt was calm.
“I thought this might help—like worry beads. It might relax you if you feel one coming on.”
She doubted the stone would do any good—her parents would have figured it out years ago if it would—but the gift was incredibly sweet, and she loved the fact that he’d been thinking about her. She didn’t want to refuse it. Not really. Even if that was the smart thing to do.
“I’ll give it a shot,” she said, closing her fist around the stone, gazing into his dark eyes.
And now what? She should get out of the car, that’s what. But … she became transfixed by his lips, and she felt herself leaning forward …
Ravi jerked back in his seat and Lucy fell headfirst like Icarus into a sea of embarrassment. Frak. The spell—if it had affected anyone but Lucy—was over.
Turning the key in the ignition, Ravi gunned the engine.
“See you in school,” he said in a monotone.
Lucy launched herself out of the car faster than a speeding bullet. Her pulse should have been supersonic, yet as she clung to the stone, it stayed completely even. Maybe Ravi hadn’t been so off-base?
That was a definite plus, but watching the Land Rover vanish around a corner, she had no idea how she could ever face him again.
Yep. Roadkill would have been preferable.
REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE
It was Claudia’s fault that Lucy owned a bikini at all. Lucy abdicated authority over major wardrobe decisions to her more sartorially gifted best friend. Last summer, Claudia had proclaimed it was about time for Lucy to show off her curves properly, and Cole had been most appreciative.
She heard him splashing around outside in the hot tub as she examined herself in the mirror of his pool house. As promised, they had the place to themselves. Lucy had insisted on tutoring before dinner and Cole had insisted on hot-tubbing afterward. Most teenagers would be ecstatic. Lucy clipped her curls on top of her head as a knot formed in her exposed stomach.
She snatched the stone Ravi had given her from where she’d thrown her clothes on the floor. Squeezing it in her palm, she released a shuddering breath. To her utter astonishment, over the past couple of days, the stone had helped Lucy keep a lid on any magnetism or static electricity.
Actual magnetism, that was. Lucy couldn’t help her eyes from being drawn to Ravi during her physics lab, although he’d barely acknowledged her. She knew it was for the best that he was ignoring her crush. Very polite of him, in fact, to disregard all knowledge of what a fool she’d made of herself.
“Lucy! I’m getting lonely out here!”
“Coming!” she called back, pressing the stone harder into her flesh. This was what she needed: a romantic evening with her boyfriend to push any ill-advised notions about handsome Brits from her head.
Please let me have one night of normal.
Reluctantly, Lucy relinquished her grip on the stone, and Cole wolf-whistled as she stepped onto the patio.
He was illuminated from below by the watery lights of the Jacuzzi. Smooth jazz whistled from the outdoor speakers. It might seem like Seduction 101 but Lucy knew better. Cole was genuinely trying to make her happy, trying to make amends—from the jazz to the lasagna he’d baked because he knew Italian was Lucy’s
favorite.
Goosebumps broke out along her skin from the chilly air. Seeing her shiver, Cole launched himself toward the edge of the Jacuzzi.
“Get in, I’ll warm you up.”
His eyebrows did a gigolo wriggle and Lucy laughed, nerves settling somewhat. She wished she could have hidden the stone in her bikini, but the silver pieces of string left very little to the imagination.
Cole gathered her into his arms as soon as she hit the water, nuzzling the nape of her neck. “Remind me to thank Short Stack again for her fashion tips.”
Lucy did her best to relax against his chest. Cole’s muscles were slippery against her back, and she’d have to be dead not to want to wheel around and trace them with her fingertips, painted Dorothy ruby red for tonight. Frustratingly, Lucy still wasn’t able to kiss Cole without feeling queasy. It had absolutely nothing to do with Ravi. Absolutely nothing.
She teased Cole with a splash, doing a variation on the hula out of his arms, and settled on the bench that ringed the inside of the hot tub. He followed her over, pressing in close, thighs touching. The soft material of his swim trunks floated against her skin, raising tiny hairs all over Lucy’s body.
Everything was quiet except for the sound of the bubble jets.
Cole stretched his arms around the edge of the Jacuzzi, leaned his head back, and closed his eyes.
“Tonight’s been perfect, Luce.”
“Yeah.” Lucy listed her head back too, allowing her body to float like a ragdoll.
“Like before,” he murmured, eyes still shut.
Except it wasn’t. She gazed up at the night sky and the inverted constellations of Grand Central twinkled in her mind. There was so much Cole didn’t know, so much Lucy didn’t know how to tell him.
But if Lucy really loved Cole, didn’t she owe him the truth?
“Do you ever”—she started, searching for the right words—“do you ever wish you could do things differently? Make different choices?”
“About what?”
Lucy swallowed. “About…” Suddenly saying, Decoding a hidden message, or Breaking into the secret lab of a dead scientist sounded beyond farfetched. Cole would assume she was pranking him.
“Luce?” He knocked his knee gently against hers.
“Oh, you know, life,” she deflected, losing her nerve. “College. Everything.”
“Everything is a lot to worry about.”
When Lucy didn’t respond, Cole rolled onto his side, propping himself up on an elbow. He stroked her jawbone with his thumb.
“I know I made the right decision about you.”
His eyes were nearly black in the dim glow of the Jacuzzi lights.
“What about next year?” she asked.
He shrugged. “It’ll work itself out,” he said. But Cole’s future was set. A straight line from graduation to college. Lucy couldn’t share his confidence.
“I guess.”
“Trust me. You think too much, Luce.”
Cole might be right about that.
He wrapped a wet curl absently around his index finger. “Let’s just get through finals,” he said in a low voice, and walked his fingers up her thigh. Lucy dropped her feet to the bottom of the tub, needing support. She concentrated on the ridges of tile sliding along her soles.
Snapping the sliver of bikini at her hip, Cole said, “Besides, when you’re wearing that I can’t think about anything except the laws of motion.”
Lucy snorted. “Using physics to turn on your girlfriend?”
He grinned. Half-lopsided, half-wicked. “I know what she likes.”
“Oh, do you?” she teased.
In a playful almost football tackle, Cole grabbed her around the waist and swung her onto his lap, her knees straddling him. Water surged over the sides. Lucy inhaled sharply, battling the queasy feeling in her gut as he began kissing her neck. They bumped against the aluminum guiderail.
One of Cole’s hands danced along her spine while the other cupped her butt, tentatively at first, drawing her closer. “Is this okay?” he whispered.
Remembering their first night together, Lucy reassured him by taking his earlobe between her teeth. She wanted to feel that magic again. She would not let the seasick feeling defeat her. This was her body, and Lucy was in control.
“More than okay,” she told him. Cole groaned.
“Man, I’ve missed you.” He started fumbling with the clasp of her bikini top. “We haven’t—you know—since…”
Lucy finished his thought by reaching behind her back and unhooking the plastic easily.
“Girl magic,” her boyfriend declared wondrously, smiling.
Cole was so distracted by peeling away the slip of silver that he didn’t notice the lights at the bottom of the Jacuzzi flicker.
No. No. It was just Lucy’s imagination.
She wrapped her hands behind Cole’s neck, molding herself against him. Skin to skin. Her stomach staged a revolt but Lucy ignored it.
I’m in charge.
When he tried to kiss her on the mouth, however, she dodged and nibbled his earlobe again. Throwing up would be a mood killer.
Another flicker. Stop, she commanded the lights in vain.
Cole’s hand slid down the crease of her breasts toward her belly button, followed by his lips.
Was the water bubbling more than before?
Lucy dug her fingers into his shoulders as her temples throbbed. Cole toyed with the edge of her bikini bottom. She wanted it to feel good. It did feel good. Partially. But she couldn’t stop the whirlwind building in her veins.
A shudder wracked her body that she couldn’t suppress. She grabbed the handrail for balance.
Eyes glazed, Cole pulled back. “Should we stop? Are you seizing?”
“I’m not seizing,” Lucy snapped, and hurt rippled across his brow. “Sorry.” She gentled her tone. “I’m okay.”
“Sure?”
This was the moment. This was the moment she should tell him the truth.
“Don’t stop,” she rasped instead, shoving her tongue forcefully into his mouth, desperately, as her body quivered, and Cole matched her kisses.
Lucy bucked in the water. Where her toes had brushed against the metal casings of the lights, heat seared her. Frak. Her gaze dropped to the volatile, horror-movie lighting before rising back to the hand that gripped the handrail.
Green flames burned against the night sky.
She stared in awe for a few moments as tendrils of St. Elmo’s fire began circling her forearm. Then fear knocked Lucy back to her senses.
Water and electricity didn’t mix for regular humans.
She thrust both her hands against Cole’s chest, slamming him back against the wall of the Jacuzzi.
“What’s go—” he started to shout just as the bulbs blew beneath their feet. Cole’s scowl transformed to shock, and maybe a shred of fear. “Holy mother of—did you feel that?” he spluttered. “I think I got an electric shock.”
Lucy propelled herself to the opposite side of the hot tub.
“We should sue,” he said. “That shit’s dangerous.”
Lucy could only make out his silhouette in the faint rays of light shining from the pool house and she was glad Cole couldn’t see her properly either.
She quaked from head to toe. How could she be so reckless? Selfish? Lucy had deluded herself into believing she could control her symptoms. What a joke. This was a whole magnitude more serious than shorting out an iPad.
“You okay, Luce?”
Water sloshed as he moved toward her.
“Stop!” she screeched, hands flying outward. “Don’t touch me.”
“What the fu—?” Cole raised his voice, frustration punctuating his question. “What’s wrong?”
But she couldn’t tell him. Emptiness spread from her core as the realization dawned. Cole would never understand—and Lucy didn’t want to try to make him. She didn’t love him enough to try.
She didn’t … she’d fallen out of love.
“I’m trying here,” Cole pleaded. “You’re hot, you’re cold. I don’t understand what’s going on with you.”
Lucy scanned his creased features, exasperation tensing each muscle. One way or another, tonight wasn’t going to end without her hurting him.
“I’m sorry, Cole.” Lucy was grateful that the darkness she’d caused masked the tears welling in her eyes. “I don’t think we get each other anymore.”
“But … but everything seemed like before.”
“It did, but I’m not.” It would never be like before.
Cole let out a monumental sigh. “So where does that leave us?”
“I think—I think we should take a break.”
He smacked the surface of the water with his palm. Hard. Regret stirred in Lucy’s chest.
She had used Cole too. Not for the solution to quadratic equations, but to pretend she was a normal all-American high school girl. Pretending had almost gotten Cole electrocuted.
“Prom?” he asked.
“I don’t think it was meant to be.” Lucy couldn’t use Cole as a shield. She was who she was. And if she was totally honest, she’d been hiding behind Cole long before she ever entered the Tesla Suite.
“Then let’s call this what it is, Luce. We’re graduating soon. This is a breakup. There’s no going back.”
She nodded, tears flowing more freely, finding it hard to speak.
Cole scoffed. “I never expected you of all people to break my heart.”
Lucy didn’t know how to take that, so she remained quiet, reattached her bikini top, and got out of the hot tub with as much dignity as anyone could manage half-naked.
She had reached the door of the pool house when Cole’s voice carried to her in the still night air.
“I guess opposites don’t really attract.”
SHAKEN, NOT STIRRED
Nearly deep frying your newly ex-boyfriend gave anyone the excuse to lose their minds just a bit. Which was Lucy’s justification for her present cyberstalking.
On her long, lonely walk home, she had decided two things.
First, she needed help getting answers. Second, if anyone in her life deserved the truth from Lucy, it was Claudia. Lucy could trust her bestie not to judge her, and she didn’t want to lie anymore. She didn’t want to hide.