EVO Nation Series Trilogy Box Set

by K. J. Chapman

  My stomach lurches, yet I force a smile and avert my gaze for fear of crumbling. “The heat is getting to me a bit,” I lie.

  Jude glances over and we make eye contact. He points to a small door at the back of the bar, and then taps at his watch. Sliding off his stool, he disappears through the door. Seth looks from me to Jude, and then quickly distracts himself with beer mats.

  “Oh, right,” says Adam, unconvinced. He follows my gaze over Wheeler’s shoulder, watching Jude disappear through the door. “Are you meeting someone?” His tone is more accusatory than simply curious.

  “Umm... no... I’ve come for a glass of cola. I need a sugar hit,” I say, sidling around the both of them. “Thank you for checking on me.”

  “If you need anything, Teddie, you know where we are,” Wheeler says, kissing my cheek.

  Adam looks a little confused by Wheeler’s offer. I’m unsure how much Wheeler has told him of the events that have happened after I left Adam with Yvette. Even thinking of that woman makes me want to punch something.

  “Thank you for letting me stay at the club last night. Thank Emiko for me too,” I say, heading toward Seth.

  Adam’s eyes are still on my back, so I have to order the drink to not look suspicious. I’m acting shady already. I should turn around and leave right now if this is Jude’s influence on me, but I’m already waist deep in murky water and I may as well sink up to my neck.

  “Jude’s told m-m-me to put all your orders on his t-tab,” says Seth. He nods in the direction of the door that Jude went through. “I’ll watch y- your drink.”

  The main door swings shut. Wheeler and Adam walk by the window, both of them looking in as they pass. I wait for them to disappear out of sight before following Jude.

  I’m faced with both ladies and gent’s toilets. A small breeze ruffles my top. There is an open fire escape door tucked away to my left. Jude slouches against the exterior of the bar beside some empty kegs.

  “I knew he might not have felt the same about me, but I never thought he’d forget me all together,” I say, without thinking.

  Jude lights a cigarette and lifts his glasses onto the top of his head. In this light, the deep wrinkles around his eyes and sallow skin are visible. He looks older, or at least more tired than he did in the dim light of the plane.

  “It’s in Gabe’s best interest that Adam doesn’t remember any of you,” he says, taking a drag.

  “So, this is Gabe and Yvette’s doing?” I ask.

  He nods, pushing himself away from the wall with his foot. The smoke from his cigarette sticks in the back of my throat, but I refuse to back away.

  “Is this to do with Facility One and the rescue mission?”

  “Of course, it is, and quit asking me questions you already know the answers too. You’ve not come here to talk about Adam. What is it you want?”

  “I want to know the truth.”

  “Oh, you do, huh? About what?” he says, taking a step closer.

  “That’s just it, I don’t know. What I do know is that Gabe is lying through his teeth and Isaac’s falling for it. He’s consumed with finding Tess, and I’m worried he isn’t seeing straight. I’m missing something- something big.”

  Jude flicks his cigarette butt into a drain and scratches behind his ear. “Can you meet me tomorrow night, midnight, outside Wheeler’s?” he asks. His face is serious. “No one can know.”

  “Okay,” I mutter.

  He heads back toward the fire escape, stopping just shy of the door. “I mean it, Princess, no one can know. And remember, there are eyes and ears everywhere.”

  He leaves me alone in the courtyard. I feel like a dirty traitor. How can I be turning to this guy? What is it about him that draws me to him? I’m usually an okay judge of character, but Jude stumps me. I even wait before heading back in to the bar, the actions of a guilty person if ever there was any. I think all of these thoughts, yet I know I’m definitely meeting him at midnight tomorrow. My guts are telling me it’s what I need to do. I didn’t listen to my guts when we left the safe house and look how that panned out.

  Adam and Wheeler sit at the bar talking to Seth. They must have come back in to see what I was up to. I have to admit that it gives me a rush to think Adam cares about what I’m doing. As long as it is the Adam I know, and not E.N.C Adam checking up on me?

  Jude breezes passed, throwing them a brief wave of his hand in goodbye. The toilet door swings shut behind me and they eye me suspiciously.

  “I’ll p- p-put some more ice in your drink,” says Seth.

  I wish he hadn’t mentioned it. I could have left, and now, I’ve got to finish my drink under scrutiny. Not to mention the fact that every time I look at Adam my throat threatens to close up on me.

  “Thank you,” I say to Seth, taking the seat beside Adam.

  He shifts his stool up, so I can join in their conversation. I know he knows that Jude and I weren’t just going for a wee at the same time. I suddenly worry that he thinks we’re in a relationship or something gross.

  “So, you were at Facility One?” Adam asks.

  I almost choke on my drink. “Yeah, for ten days.” I need to keep my replies vague and to the point. The last thing I want to do is mess up any chance he might have of remembering me by implanting false memories.

  Adam nods. “We’re you and your friends taken there together?” he asks.

  I shake my head and take a long gulp of drink. “No, we all met in there. They were in there longer than me.”

  Wheeler starts blabbing about the thunderstorm last night. I appreciate him trying to change the subject, but Adam doesn’t let up.

  “Do you remember me from in there?” His face has lost its casual small talk look and has turned serious.

  “Yes,” I say, and right then, like an angel sent to help me, Yana opens the door.

  “Why’d you sneak off? I would have come for a drink with you,” she says, smiling. “Yvette is looking for you. She wants to check your stitches and the dressing.”

  My hand instinctively goes to my arm. I jump up, happy for an excuse to leave before Adam asks me something I just can’t answer.

  She greets Adam and Wheeler, and they both wave.

  “What’s wrong with your arm,” Adam asks, watching me skirt over to Yana.

  “She got shot, remember?” Yana says, clearly forgetting herself for a moment. “Oh, yeah, you don’t remember.”

  She looks like she’s just remembered her friend has died, and that’s a little how I feel. Before he can reply, I grab Yana’s hand and pull her outside.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Maggie marches out of her chalet to beckon me from across the pool. Yana looks shocked to see her out and about, and I feel bad that I haven’t thought to check on her since I got back to the hotel.

  Yvette emerges from the foyer and waves me over.

  Maggie’s fists clench. “You can stay the hell away from these kids,” she shouts across the pool.

  The EVO holiday makers whisper and peer over the top of their sunglasses at the commotion.

  “I’m just doing my job,” says Yvette. Her voice is sweet and patronising.

  Maggie scoffs. “If that’s what you call it. You stay away from that girl. You’ve done enough damage! Come on, Teddie.” Maggie’s voice is firm, and I don’t need telling twice.

  Maggie has a med kit laid out on the coffee table. She washes her hands, and then kneels on the floor beside the sofa. The chalet is identical to mine except it is messier with three people staying in it.

  “I’m not letting that bitch anywhere near you,” she says, her hair flaring from a strawberry blonde to a mousey brown as she speaks. “I’m perfectly capable of seeing to your arm. Who does she think she is?’ ‘Doing her job’- what is that exactly? She makes out she wants to help you, and in the same breath, she manipulates Adam to forgets you. She has always been a manipulative, vindictive cow.”

  I place both hands on Maggie’s shoulders. “Maggie, don’t let
her get to you. She isn’t worth wasting your breath over.” I pull her into a hug. “How are you doing?”

  “I’ve been better. I miss him so much.” Her voice breaks, but she coughs the emotion away. “Right, let’s see to this arm of yours.”

  As I remove my top the dressing falls away. The stitches stick out at horrid angles, but the skin is only a little pink compared to the raging red it has been. Maggie wipes over it with an antiseptic wipe, and I crinkle my nose in pain.

  “They’re healing well, but you really need to wear a short sleeve top in this heat or sweat will aggravate it. I’ll bandage it to stop the dressing loosening.”

  I haven’t washed or changed since we left the safe house. My green top is too thick for the Italian heat, and my feet are roasting in my boots. Yana has on a summer dress with sandals, and Maggie is wearing a pair of linen trousers with a short-sleeved blouse.

  “Where’d you get the clothes?” I ask.

  “Golding got them for us. Gabe thinks he can buy his love, and Gold’s first demand was summer clothes for us all and a free tab around here. I put your outfits in your chalet a minute ago,” says Yana, wafting her skirt a little.

  We head back to my chalet. Rather than draw a bath, I use the shower in the second bedroom. Golding and Haydn have appeared, washed and dressed in shorts and t-shirts. I don’t mind them seeing me in my towel. They saw much more of me at Facility One.

  Maggie re-dresses my arm, and I go back to my room to see what clothes Golding has picked for me. He follows, slouching on the bed while I dress behind the wardrobe door.

  I prize on a spectacularly short pair of floral shorts and a black camisole. I’m actually a little surprised by how good I feel looking in the mirror. I’m pasty, but that’s just me. I slip on a pair of converse pumps and make a show of parading the outfit for Golding’s reaction.

  “We’ll have Adam falling in love with you all over again,” he says.

  I stop dead, my body tensing at his words.

  “Oh, God, Teddie, I’m sorry. I just don’t think before I open my big gob. I meant it as a compliment.”

  I pick up a cushion that has toppled off the bed and launch it at him. He ducks away from it, emerging with a smile.

  “It’s okay,” I say. “Getting to know him, or rather trying to get him to know me again, might be the only way that I’ll ever get him back. Gabe and Yvette have made sure he doesn’t remember any of us.”

  Golding looks to his feet. He has already summed it up for himself. Like Jude said, why ask questions you already know the answers to? It’s not hard to put two and two together.

  “How are you feeling after earlier,” he asks.

  “Better, thanks to you,” I say, flopping on the bed beside him.

  “Good, because I’ve been gagging to talk to you alone.” He licks at his lips nervously. “What do you think of Seth Hillard?”

  “Bar man, Seth?” I ask. “Honestly, I think he’s a good guy that’s gotten mixed up in the wrong crowd.” I remember him stopping Ty’s fist in the car. “Why?”

  “Because he was my ‘boat guy’,” he says. There’s a hint of hysteria in his voice. “Seth was my first proper boyfriend. I hired the boat for a romantic date, pulled ‘a Golding’, and crashed the bloody thing. After that, Roscoe was on to me and I never got the chance to talk to Seth again.”

  “Seth was ‘boat guy’,” I repeat, my mouth gaping. “Did you know he was E.N.C?”

  “Hell no! I knew he was EVO, an ability sensor, but not E.N.C. I would have stayed well clear.”

  “And now?” I ask.

  “And now, I don’t know. He doesn’t seem like the rest of them. What should I do? He’s been trying to talk to me since we arrived. He’s E.N.C, Teds.”

  “It doesn’t mean he’s a bad guy. Just look at Adam.”

  Golding smiles, but he seems sceptical.

  “What? You don’t think Adam is a good guy?” I snap.

  “Don’t put words in my mouth. The Adam we knew was the best guy, but the Adam who came out of the manipulation is E.N.C, and we don’t know where his loyalties lie. Gabe obviously thought that Adam falling for you is a threat to his loyalty to the Corp, and that’s why Yvette manipulated him not to remember. I just think we should tread lightly until we know more.”

  He’s right, I know he’s right, but my gut aches to think we’re questioning Adam like we are.

  I slump over and rest my head against his shoulder. “Men, eh?” I say, and then we both laugh, just a little.

  ***

  We sit outside the chalet on the loungers for the remainder of the day. No one speaks to us, and we barely speak to each other. Every so often, we’d take it in turns to go to the bar for cold drinks. It is my turn again.

  The bar is slowly filling up as the afternoon goes on. When Seth sees me, he deflates a little. I’m guessing he was hoping for Golding. A woman has joined Seth to serve- Celeste’s Italian friend. She seems relieved when Seth tells her that he’ll deal with my order.

  “The same as before,” he asks with a smile.

  The door opens, and his face drops. Ty enters in his usual jeans and vest combo. He makes a bee line straight for us and stands so close to me that his sweaty arm rubs against mine. He flashes the Italian girl a smile, and she swoons a little. I want to shake her for being so clueless.

  “Adam’s ditched ya, and now, you’re cracking on to our S- S -Sethy boy,” he says, mimicking Seth’s stammer.

  I don’t dignify him with a response. Seth fills the glasses in silence. I’m sure he has shrunk in size before my eyes.

  “You’re wasting your time with him, Red. What you need is a real man, not some queer.”

  Seth flinches at the word.

  “Don’t call him that,” I spit.

  The chatter of the bar has fallen to a low mumble as all attention is drawn to us.

  “You’re not one of those, are ya? Of course, I should have known it with that cousin of yours. What is it they call you girls? Oh, yeah, fag hags- that’s it.” He laughs, nudging me with his elbow. “Even queers need friends, I suppose.” He knocks Seth’s hand as he pours the last glass and its contents slop over his trousers.

  “I said don’t call him that,” I snap again, shoving him away from the bar. He just looks at me with amusement in his eyes. The kind a predator has when teasing their prey.

  “Don’t get touchy, Red. He knows I’m just playing, don’t ya, Sethy boy? You know what I think, Red? I think that you’re scared by your feelings for me. I’ve seen the way you look at me. Is that it, do ya have feelings for Ty, Honey Lips?” He runs a hand across my mid drift.

  Bile rises into my throat. “You know that nasty feeling you get right before you crap yourself? That’s what I feel every time I look at you,” I say, with a sarcastic smile.

  Laughter erupts around the bar. Ty’s face turns dark in a split second. Seth muffles a laugh in his sleeve, and that angers Ty all the more.

  I pick up the tray. “Now, if you don’t mind, the stench of bigot is making me feel sick.”

  I push by him, his face now a violent shade of red. It’s clear that he can dish out the abuse, yet doesn’t take kindly to being the butt of the joke.

  Adam and Wheeler stand behind Ty with huge grins on their faces. I catch Adam’s eyes and see the cheeky glint I know too well. I readjust my grip on the tray and head for the door.

  In an instant, my head is ringing in agony. I drop the tray, the smash of glass slicing through my mind like splinters, and I cry out as dots dance in front of my eyes. Ty stands just feet away from me with a look of pure evil on his face. He is doing this to me. This explains the agony we all felt on the air strip.

  Adam and Wheeler move toward him. He turns his attention on them, and they both drop to the floor, yelping in pain.

  Adam’s hand flares a brilliant blue, and the bar lights flicker as a ball of electricity dances between his fingers. I’ve never seen anything like it. How can something so terrifying, l
ook so beautiful? He struggles against the agony in his head, and the blue glow in his palm ebbs and wanes. Adam isn’t strong enough, or in control enough, to fight Ty, and Ty knows it. A thin smirk twists at his lips.

  I push through the pain, crawling to my knees. The weight of my telekinesis hangs in my mind and rages hot through my body. I won’t let Ty hurt them. Focus, Teddie.

  With a short burst of energy, Ty soars back against the wall and a stool whips up against him, the legs pinning him in place. The supporting joist between the legs presses up against his Adams apple. Screams and gasps from the onlookers fill the bar, but I keep my hold on Ty as he coughs and splutters against the force. The pain in my head dissolves as he chokes for breath.

  Adam and Wheeler scramble to their feet. The electricity still bounces around in Adam’s palm like an erratic orb of lightning.

  The feeling of power, and the fear in Ty’s eyes, exhilarates me. I should let him go, but I don’t.

  A hand rests on my shoulder. “Well done, my little Telekin, but that’s enough now,” Jude whispers, his voice laced with pride.

  I let the stool drop. Ty crumples to the floor, holding his throat and coughing. Everyone in the bar gawps at me as panic rises in my chest again. What have I done? I fight through the urge to lose control. I can’t have another panic attack in front of all these people. It’s bad enough that they have witnessed what I just did.

  A hand takes me under the arm and leads me out into the blinding sunshine. “Are you okay,” says Isaac, panting for breath. “I heard a commotion.” He holds me by the forearms, shaking them a little.

  “I’m sorry, but I had to,” I say.

  Gabe and some of his men rush by us into the bar. He glances at me briefly with a wild look in his eye. Yana, Golding, Haydn, and Maggie hurry around the pool to us.

  “What’s going on?” asks Maggie.

  Seth comes out of the bar looking shaken. “She was defending m- me and Ty inflicted on her. She h-h-had to fight back,” he stammers, his nerves in overdrive. His eyes meet Golding’s, but Golding shies away from his stare.