Infinite Risk

by Ann Aguirre

  That was more than enough. If she couldn’t get out of Blackbriar with the suggestions I’d provided, then I’d be disappointed in myself. To keep from looking like a potential stalker, I posted in a few other random threads, ones that hadn’t been started by NamiNerd. Afterward, I clicked over to a few sites that Ryu and Vi had mentioned frequenting in their misspent youths, but I didn’t know their usernames. Probably just as well, I shouldn’t muck around in their timelines. They might both be better off not meeting me.

  Around nine, my intercom went off. Since nobody but the Harbinger knew where I lived, my heart quivered to life. He wouldn’t come back this way. Not his style. He loves big entrances and pageantry. There was no way he’d just come home and ring the bell.

  Heh. Home.

  Yet I still rushed to the panel and pressed the talk button. “Yeah?”

  “It’s me. Can I come up?”

  Oh.

  Selena’s voice shouldn’t disappoint me this much. I buzzed to open the front door. “You know what floor I’m on?”

  “Of course.”

  I opened the door when I heard her footsteps in the hall. “Welcome, I guess.”

  As usual, she was Goth-punk fabulous. She surveyed the room before taking a seat on the sofa. “I want to talk logistics.”

  “About?”

  “Our hunt. The way you reacted to me shadowing you says you’re not a victim, plus that glowing sword of yours? I’m dying to see it in action. You can’t be willing to let the bag man set the rules of engagement.” She sounded more like a teen girl talking about the newest cell phone than an ancient, immortal being.

  I considered. “Makes sense. And no, I don’t really want to fight on his turf and terms.”

  “You’ve got good instincts. Back in the day, you could’ve been one of my acolytes.”

  “Pass,” I said.

  Seeming offended, Selena got up and went to rummage in my fridge, returning with a bottle of mineral water. “That wasn’t on offer.”

  Something about her manner seemed familiar. “Wait, do you know Allison?”

  “Who?” A blank look met mine as she cracked open her drink.

  “Lilith. I bet you’d know her as Lilith.”

  “Shit, yes. We’re hunting buddies. Or … we used to be anyway.”

  “Huh. Small world,” I muttered. “Did you fight or something?”

  “She took to prowling for easy meat in schools, and that’s so not my scene. It’s hardly sporting to take down prey that’s constantly in a hormonal state of flux that equates to a lapse in faculties. Like fish in a barrel, you know.”

  “You think teenagers are mentally impaired?” Since I didn’t want Selena hunting with Allison, I decided to leave it that. Better not to argue sometimes.

  “Aren’t they? Anyway, back to the bag man. I propose using you as bait. You wander around, somewhere that we’ve scouted. I’ll hold far enough away that he doesn’t sense me. Then when he thinks you’re helpless, we spring our trap and glorious combat ensues.”

  “I like the idea of turning the tables, but won’t he wonder why you’re suddenly not guarding me anymore?”

  Selena tapped a long black nail against her white teeth. “Good point. Maybe Big Bro could let slip about my ‘new top secret orders’ to interested parties?”

  “Are we seriously using gossip against immortal entities?”

  She grinned. “We come from humans after all. So … duh.”

  “This is a separate issue, but…” I hesitated, wondering how far I could trust her. Buzzkill helped me, until Wedderburn ordered him not to. Selena was probably loyal to Dwyer, who might or might not be her brother. “What do you plan to tell him about my sword?”

  “The feeling I get from it, I’d sound crazy if I tried to explain it to him. So I intend to take credit for any of our victories. Got a problem with that?” She chugged the rest of her fizzy water and let out a burp that could’ve leveled a small town, then giggled. “Damn, that’s fun. Only reason I ever drink anything.”

  Whoa.

  With some effort, I directed the conversation away from her gaseous hobby. “I don’t, actually. For me, that’s a best case scenario. Don’t worry, I won’t be around long enough to cause trouble for you.”

  “Trouble? I thrive on it, so that’s the last thing you should worry about. But I’m suddenly fascinated by where you might go that one of us couldn’t find you.”

  “No comment,” I said.

  “As long as you make it possible for Big Bro to win this round, it’s fine by me. He’s betting heavily on you, by the way. It’s been like a hundred years or something since he beat the winter whatsit.”

  “A round is a hundred years?” I asked, astonished.

  “No, dummy. But he’s lost the last ten. Forfeited somewhere in there because of a big fire, no, that was more than ten rounds ago … maybe it was an earthquake? Regardless, he’s so thrilled that you have his opponent this agitated.”

  “It’s a gift.”

  But her careless words put into perspective what I was up against, the scale of what these creatures had seen and the span of time they planned over. To Wedderburn, I must feel like a bug on his windshield that just wouldn’t die. It was … staggering. Selena talked a little more in a disjointed fashion, and then she sprawled on my couch.

  “Um. I’m going to bed soon.”

  “Go ahead. I think I’ll stay here for a while. Safer for you, cozy for me.” The concept of privacy or personal space seemed alien to these creatures, and I couldn’t piss her off when she was keeping a dangerous secret for me.

  Great, looks like I have a roomie. Kian would be hurt if I told him not to come over again, so maybe I could get her to leave temporarily or explain her as my cousin. Whatever. I showered, put on sweats in the bathroom, and pulled down my bed to the soothing sounds of a chain saw on the TV. Selena seemed to thrive on the screaming and the blood spatter, which explained why she’d been good hunting buddies with Allison. It would have been normal for me to struggle to fall asleep, but in a weird way, her presence was comforting.

  For the first time in a while, I slept like a rock. When I woke up, she was curled up like a cat on my sofa, TV off. I skipped breakfast and quietly slipped out for school. I found Jake Overman waiting for me in a chauffeured car. What the hell?

  “What’re you doing?”

  More important, how did you find me?

  He gazed up at the building with a curious expression. “I’m not actually here to see you.”

  Ducking his head with a faint sigh, he explained. “I own this property. My dad makes me check in with the building manager every so often, and I don’t have time after school, so—”

  “That leaves early mornings. Got it. Also, holy shit, you own a building.”

  “It’s to build my portfolio and gain real experience handling assets,” he mumbled.

  I gave him the best mock sympathy money couldn’t buy. “Rich-people problems. It’s so sad when all you want to do is kiss girls and play basketball, probably not in that order.”

  “You’re the only one who understands me.”

  “It’s not hard. Your subtext is written in crayon on big line paper.”

  “Harsh. Listen, if you want to wait in the car for ten minutes, I’ll take you to school with me after I talk to the manager.”

  Pretending to shrug, I acted like it was no big deal to ride in a Rolls or whatever the hell this was. “Sure, if you want.”

  Just then, Selena came running out with no shoes, her eyeliner smeared wildly. “How can you just leave without saying anything?”

  She checked when she saw Jake, but his brows were already trying to climb his forehead to reach Mount Top of Head. Awesome. My fake boyfriend thinks I have a real girlfriend. And I was trying to simplify, not add drama. The silence was excruciating.

  “I’ll … let you guys talk,” he said finally.

  ALL THE WRONG REASONS

  As soon as Jake disappeared inside, I co
uldn’t contain my laughter. “His expression was priceless. What did you want to talk about?”

  “We didn’t decide when we’re scouting or the day of the hunt.” From her annoyed moue, I should’ve known that.

  In my admittedly limited experience, Selena did have something of a one-track mind, so I wasn’t surprised she thought this was urgent business. “Whenever. Just keep me posted.”

  “Excellent. This hunt is in the bag.” She seemed really pleased with that pun.

  So I chuckled, and she brightened up as she headed for the building. Jake came out a few minutes later, seeming relieved that the encounter wouldn’t be repeated. He opened the back door for me, and we both slid in. Though this wasn’t a stretch limo, there was a partition in back.

  He lowered it partway to say, “School, please.”

  “Right away, sir.”

  No joke, it was all kinds of weird to hear a fortysomething guy address Jake like that. When the frosted Plexiglas went back up, I said, “So you’re basically Lex Luthor, huh?”

  “Why do I have to be a supervillain? Besides, I’d much rather talk about the girl whose heart you broke last night.”

  “Pics, or it didn’t happen.” I invoked the twenty-fourth rule of the Internet.

  “I can’t believe you’re already cheating on me.” Jake let out a mournful sigh. “But you’re wrong in your assessment of my subtext.”

  “I am?”

  “I’d rather be playing basketball and kissing people, not just girls.”

  That surprised me, mostly that he was telling me out of the blue. In my experience, people needed to know you longer before opening up, but hell, we already shared a secret. So maybe this was a demonstration of trust?

  He went on. “So you don’t have to lie to me. That girl’s clearly not your cousin. It’s cool, I get where you’re coming from. Plus, I’m aware that there are no family units in my building. Those are all studios, so you must be living with her, not your parents. Did they kick you out?”

  Wow, he was ready to dive into my business. Sadly, it wasn’t an outlandish assumption; too many parents reacted that way to learning their kid wasn’t purely straight. I could probably use this to my advantage somehow, but since he was being so open on his end, I couldn’t do it. Instead, I gave an honest response.

  “I haven’t seen my folks in a while,” I admitted. “But actually I’m the one renting the studio and she’s staying with me, but not because we’re together.”

  “Sorry, I thought you were bi.” The unspoken like me hung between us, and his expression slid toward awkward chagrin. Jake seemed to realize he’d misunderstood and that there was no reason for him to have confessed out of solidarity.

  I found myself saying, “To be honest, it hasn’t been that long since I’ve been remotely datable for reasons I won’t go into. Back in the day, my self-esteem was so low that I think I would’ve gone out with anyone who asked. I was basically that lonely.”

  His eyes swept me from top to bottom, obviously wondering why I’d thought so little of myself. “I’m glad you’re not in that place anymore.”

  Nodding, I added, “That said, there have been a few times when I’ve thought certain girls are really pretty and even wondered—”

  “So … you are bi?”

  I shook my head. “I think … I could probably be attracted to anyone, under the right circumstances and if our personalities are a good fit.”

  The Harbinger came to mind. He usually presented as male, but he’d indicated that he could be female during one conversation. Since he didn’t have mortal limits, he could be whatever he wanted or something entirely new. Yet my feelings wouldn’t change, no matter what he looked like. It was the crazy, chaotic, yet tender heart that moved me.

  My feelings … what are they? I shied away from examining them, as it didn’t matter. He’d gone, leaving me to face what lay ahead alone.

  “Ah, that’s pan. It’s cool you realized it. But you’re not the person I thought you were.”

  It’s mutual. This was not the conversation I expected from Jake, who was deeper than I’d realized. When I first met him, I saw only a jock, but he definitely had layers.

  “You too,” I said. “How come you’re not at some pricey prep school?”

  “My father thinks they’re a waste of money. He’s self-made, and he got where he is without paying for a fancy education. He says it’s up to me to capitalize on opportunities and to learn what I need to master life on my own, if necessary.”

  “Wow. He sounds hard-core.”

  Jake sighed as we turned down the street the school was on. “Exhausting, more like. He’s always traveling for work, and I get e-mail bulletins with sudden work assignments at the weirdest times. Like, he’ll be in Dubai and decide I have to check on our properties in Phoenix, and never mind the time difference or the fact that I have school.”

  “That sounds awful.”

  “Most people only see the house and the car. Don’t get me wrong, it’s better to have money than not, but my life’s definitely not my own.”

  “What about your mom?” Honestly, I expected to hear that he was on stepmother number four, and she was only five years older than him.

  “She travels with my dad, mostly. I had nannies when I was younger, but last year I convinced them I didn’t need constant supervision.”

  “Huh. Well, I bet a lot of people at school would like to swap lives so they can try your problems for a while.”

  He smiled at that. “Sometimes I’d take that deal.”

  The driver pulled up the semicircle in front of the school office, and Jake got out without waiting for the door to be opened. I didn’t expect so many students to be out front, but since it was a bright morning, another happy smile from Dwyer, everyone was sprawled on the cement, faces turned to the sky like blossoming sunflowers. It also meant tons of witnesses to report on the fact that I’d arrived with Jake. The whispering started straightaway.

  “Looks like your plan is working.” He plucked my grubby backpack from my shoulder and carried it inside along with his.

  Hurrying after him, I tried to repo my stuff, but he didn’t stop until he reached my locker. “I don’t need a porter.”

  “It’s just one of the many services I provide.”

  “Great line.” When I turned, Wade Tennant stood nearby. “I have a bone to pick with you, dude. I saw her first. I even sent her a damn rose on Valentine’s. So I should’ve been first on deck. So why are you with her?”

  “Because I have free will and get to choose?”

  But Wade ignored me. I might be a butterfly on a pin for all the notice he took. Instead, he glared at Jake, like any of this made sense. God, would it kill him not to add my notch to his bedpost? If we were last people on earth, I’d choose a boulder instead of him as my life partner because at least it would be a good listener. But this bullshit was exactly what I wanted to avoid and part of why I’d offered to help Jake. Wade had a real entitlement problem, as I shouldn’t need a guy’s stamp on me to be left alone. My own hell no should be sufficient, and it pissed me off that it wasn’t. Since Wade was a senior, he seemed to think Jake should just give way.

  Like I’m not even a person.

  “I’m not a moon rock,” I said loudly. “It doesn’t matter who saw me first. There can be no dibsing on me, you get that? Now piss off.”

  My voice attracted the attention of the passing counselor, whose eyes narrowed when he realized it was the grieving student. “Is everything all right, Chelsea?”

  That name gave me a jolt since I’d gotten used to Nine. “Fine. Jake was about to walk me to class.”

  Now I sound like Tanya.

  But Jake took the cue I lobbed and escorted me without complaint. “That was … weird. I’ve only known Wade a few months, but I’ve never seen him so single-minded. Usually he’s fairly laid-back, part of his charm.”

  Wedderburn. A little shimmer of horror went through me. He’d driven Tanya to be uncha
racteristically cruel and then to kill herself, so maybe he was twisting Wade’s normal conquering instincts into something more sinister. Maybe I was overreacting, but it was hard not to hear the winter king whisper, I’ll have you raped and killed.

  Concerned, Jake touched my shoulder. “Don’t let him get to you.”

  Easier said than done, maybe. But I’d be vigilant.

  So I spent the day dodging Wade and stuck with the crowd as we left school in the afternoon. In his basketball clothes, Jake walked me out, ever the attentive fake boyfriend. He paused on the front steps, smiling down at me.

  “This is as far as I can take you.”

  “Look out!” someone yelled from the parking lot.

  Jake reacted with an athlete’s reflexes and yanked me away, back toward the building, and where we had been standing, two huge cement blocks smashed to the ground. My breath wheezed in my lungs, starting another wave of phantom pain. He didn’t let go of me, probably because I shook so hard, gritting my teeth against the anguish, that I would’ve fallen down. Fortunately, he took the episode for sheer terror, so he rubbed my back and told me I was okay.

  “What the hell are they doing on the roof?” A teacher whose name I didn’t know sent someone to check it out.

  Kian arrived a few seconds later, his face pale. “Are you all right? What happened?”

  Jake filled him in while I tried not to bite my tongue. My fingers glowed gold again, so I hid them in Jake’s practice shirt, tangling in the fabric like I couldn’t get close enough to him. He was big and protective for sure, and I wished I could thank him for taking the focus off my near incapacitation. From what I gathered, strong emotions made things worse. So fear, anger, passion—all of that needed to stop. I’d last longer if I remained calm.

  The principal came out a few minutes later. By then I’d settled enough to give my version of events. He listened with a worried frown. Probably afraid I’ll sue.