by Lila Felix
LUCENT FEMALES ARE TO KEEP AN UPSTANDING REPUTATION AT ALL TIMES.
I changed the subject quickly and pretended to be distraught over having still not called my mother or Ari or Sway. We flashed back to the house.
Collin was all business. He’d made a pit stop in South Korea and put a set of information-carrying USB drives in the hand of someone he said he trusted with his life. The boys were pretty beat, but I was wide awake. I placed calls to Sway and Ari, letting them know where we were, but no more. I told them the bare minimal information in case they were ever questioned in connection to us.
“Tell me everything,” my mom insisted.
“Mom, what if you’re questioned? I don’t want the Synod up your ass because of me.”
“Oh, Colby, the Synod has been up my ass more times than I care to admit. Just tell me. It will help you to get it off your chest.”
“Okay.” I flopped onto the chair on the porch and spilled my guts. Some things came out as a robotic spewing of facts and some things came out with an emotional tone of voice I didn’t know I was capable of. My mom knew my aversion to feelings but never missed a beat. Before I knew what had happened, I was a blubbering mess, just hopping from topic to topic with no intelligent train of thought.
Arms folded a blanket around my legs and put two tissues in my hands and then disappeared.
“Mom, I’m a newspaper where he’s a romance novel.”
She laughed loud and long at that remark. “No, you’re more like a travel magazine.”
“Make fun of me, Mom. Thanks.”
That made her laugh even harder.
“Go to bed, Colby. You sound like a mess and it’s taking everything in me not to flash over there and hold you. I’m going to Rebekah’s tomorrow. She said she’s got some kind of stomach bug and she doesn’t get sick often.”
“That’s because she’s taken to eating big, greasy slabs of meatloaf. No wonder she’s having digestion issues.”
“Meatloaf? I just gagged, Colby. Don’t say that word again.”
I sighed into the phone. “Thanks, Mom.”
“I love you more than time and space, Colby. And Theo does too.”
“I love you too, Mom.”
“See? Not so hard, huh? Do the boy a solid and tell him you love him more than just once a year.”
“Do you a solid? Have you learned how to travel to the seventies?”
“No. I wish. Goodnight, my girl. Be safe.”
“Goodnight, Mom.”
Shrugging out of the blanket, I did the best I could to mop up the remains of my emotion fest. It was Theo who had covered me and provided the tissues. Knowing him, he was watching me through the window. I moved to get up when I saw a flicker of something in the distance. Whatever it was, it bobbed from place to place. It must’ve been an animal.
Blindly reaching behind me, I knocked on the windows. Theo was out first, followed by Collin.
“There’s something out there.”
“Resin.”
“I think it’s an animal. But it was so fast.”
Panicking, I jumped behind Theo. “I read that there’s a huge jumping spider here.”
Their response? Both of the men I’d so foolishly trusted with my protection and safekeeping doubled over laughing. Still scanning the bushes for movement I saw it again, but this time, the figure gave itself away.
“Lucent.” I pointed in awe. “There was a flash. It’s one of us.”
All eyes focused on where I was pointing but that was the last we saw of whoever it was. If it were Resin, there would be no flashing. But if it were Lucent, who would be so near to us without making themselves known?
“Let’s get inside. You’re staying with me tonight, just in case. We don’t know who is on our side and who isn’t at this point.”
Collin cleared his throat not so smoothly. “I don’t think that’s proper. You two are not bonded.”
He was a lot more handsome when he was fueled by rebellion. All this prim and proper didn’t fit along with his beard and Viking-esque vibe.
“Don’t worry, Collin, the only person in the world who is more concerned about rules is this one.” I jutted my thumb toward Theo, who looked a little offended. “Trust me. I’ve been with him in one way or another since I was seven and—well—all marriage type rules are being followed.”
Collin fingered his severely buttoned collar and released the top button. “Well, as long as your parents are aware of the situation, I guess I have no authority over the circumstances. But we have enough to worry about—let’s not add pregnancy to the mix.”
I was living in a sex talk nightmare featuring a Norseman Sasquatch that I just met.
“It will be fine.” Theo assured him, grabbed my hand and pulled me down the narrow hallway. My bags were already in the room sitting next to his. That was his plan all along.
“You are such a sneak. Everyone thinks you’re such a pillar of righteousness and virtue and you’re just a—a—a —I don’t even know.”
“Just because your bags are in my room doesn’t mean I was planning anything. I just didn’t know what room you wanted to stay in. Don’t get all twitchy.”
“So do you think whoever is out there is dangerous?”
“No.”
“So why do I need to sleep in here?” I threw my arms in the air and screamed at him. It was out of turn, but it had been a long day and I had zero patience for Theo and his crap.
I took one step back as I met his gaze. “Can’t I just want to hold you tonight?”
Who could say no to that?
After changing into pajamas we both crawled into the bed, really just a yoga mat on the floor with sparse blankets. Naturally, we fell into our old sleeping position and were soon fast asleep.