by Bella Street
The movement woke Trent. He didn't seem surprised to find her there. He stretched and then hugged her tight. Seffy wiggled from his arms and stood up.
Putting his hands behind his head, he sent her a lazy smile. “I think it's official. We're definitely sleeping together.”
She kicked his foot. “Let's go talk to Fenn.”
“How are we going to get you there?”
“I'll think of something.”
Once they were out in the hall, Trent hooked his fingers around hers. Seffy knew she should put a damper on his attentions, but her craven little soul longed for his touch more than she wanted to admit. Then again, was it Trent's touch? Or would anyone do? What if it was Gareth walking by her side? She peeked up at Trent. He caught her gaze, making her heart pound hard. Seffy looked away and focused on their first challenge.
“Sorry, miss,” said the guard posted at the corner. “You know the rules.”
“Then I guess you'll have to shoot me.”
The guard stared at her, indecision written on his face.
“Of course you take a chance of being hit with even the minutest spray of my blood. You did hear that a man died that way, right?”
He swallowed, then glanced at her and Trent's joined hands. He looked at Trent. “Why are you touching her then?”
“Oh, she's actually holding me hostage.”
The guard grabbed his radio. “Be advised, the contaminate is moving about freely in the east wing. I repeat, the contaminate is moving about freely.”
Seffy's face crumpled. “I'm The Contaminate?”
An alarm sounded overhead and a voice came over the loudspeaker, repeating the guard's message.
Trent squeezed her hand. “Let's go.”
As he tugged her forward past the guard, she tried to assimilate the fact that things were a lot worse than she realized. They hurried down the maze of halls. Residents who were present quickly rushed into their quarters, slamming their doors behind them.
“I'm getting a serious complex here, Trent.”
“Don't think about it. Let's just get to Fenn's and worry later.”
“Seriously, not only am I broken and psychotic, now I'm contamination, too. You know, I don't think even a brand new JC tracksuit could cheer me up enough to get over that.”
Guards stiffened as she and Trent approached the main doors to Fenn's residence. The half dozen or so men cocked and pointed their weapons. But before they could request entrance, Fiona came out the doors. When she saw them, she stopped.
“What the hell do you think you're doing?”
Trent dropped her hand. “We need to talk.”
“Not now. It's a bad time.” Fiona moved off down the hall.
Seffy followed, pulled along by Trent. “What's going on?”
“You know, you might want to head back to your rooms. A Haz-Mat team will be on their way to intercept you.”
“Hey, that's my nickname for those guys.”
Fiona stopped and looked at her, her eyes giving her the once-over. “No, that's what they actually are. They deal with contaminations like you.”
“You know, you have a lot of nerve treating me like that after all I've done for you and Fenn.”
“All you've done is make things worse.”
“That's bull,” Trent said. “Forget her, Sef. We'll talk to Fenn ourselves.”
“If you go near his doors, the guards will fire.”
“And what?” he said. “Risk exposure to whatever it is you're all so afraid of?”
She stared at Trent with a venomous look. “Fine. Follow me.” She went around a corner and stopped. “Now, out with it.”
Seffy looked at Trent and decided they didn't have time for prevarication. “Someone was in my room last night. They went through my things. What do you know about it?”
“Why would I know anything? Nobody in their right mind would breathe the same air as you right now.” She sent a sidelong glance to Trent.
“So you're not after anything?” he asked.
“No, I'm concerned about Fenn at the moment.”
“He's not doing well?”
She lowered her voice. “It's difficult finding a donor match when you can't make that information public.”
“Is the methadone treatment working?”
Fiona sent Seffy a rude look. “It's going fine.”
She sent one right back. “You know, it's obvious you don't want me here. And guess what? I feel the same way. Let me leave the compound.”
Her face paled slightly. “That's not possible.”
“Don't tell me you're worried about the Grandfather Paradox or my contamination of the general populace.”
“Of course not.” She swallowed. “Listen, go back to your rooms now and I'll call off the Haz-Mat guys. It should just be a few more days until we have your test results. Can you hold off on your questions until then?”
Seffy glanced at Trent, knowing they really didn't have an option. “I guess.”
“But we're going to need answers, Fiona,” he said. “And if we can't get them from you, we will get them from Fenn.”
She rolled her eyes. “Don't even think about threatening me.”
Seffy glared at the diminutive woman. Fiona met the look, propping one hand on her hip. The movement stretched the collar of her shirt, revealing a pink sparkle.
A pink rhinestone J hung from a thin chain below her collar bones.
Pink bled to red as fury took hold. Seffy stepped forward and grasped the pendant before Fiona could react. The chain broke easily against the back of her neck.
Seffy faced her, holding her fist in her face. “Where did you get this?”
Fiona's tilted eyes narrowed. “I found it,” she snapped.
Seffy turned to Trent. “This is the one from my first tracksuit.”
“It's a cheap trinket,” Fiona sneered.
Opening her palm, Seffy studied the sparkling J, past conversations filtering through her mind. She looked up at Fenn's duplicitous girlfriend. “Someone said my tracksuit is what helped us time travel. I still think that's ridiculous, but is it coincidence that with a different suit—a different J pull—we ended up in a different world?”
Fiona looked bored. “You'll have to run the science by Eugene.”
“It's all bull,” Seffy ground out.
Trent looked between the two as if he didn't know what to think. The sound of hurried footsteps floated down the hall. Then a flash of a silver suit.
Seffy tugged at Trent's sleeve. “C'mon, let's just go. I don't want those guys after me.”
Trent pinned Fiona with a sharp look. “Call them off now.”
She stared at him, her smile derisive. “Sure thing.”
Seffy couldn't wait. There was no way she was going to be anywhere near those guys again. She was around a corner before Trent caught up.
“Hold on, Sef.”
“Nope. Guys in silver suits equal pain and needles.” She didn't stop until she was back to her room. Flinging herself inside, she stood in the middle of the space, attempting to catch her breath.
Trent came in and shut the door, breathing hard from trying to keep up with her. “Well, that was pointless.”
“Why did she have my zipper pull?” Seffy studied the pink rhinestones, wondering how it could have anything to do with time travel.
“I think you called it. It's all bull.”
She looked up at Trent, still shaking with anger. “Either way, she kept it when she knew good and well where it came from.”
“Are you sure about that? Do they have those tracksuits in 1980?”
Seffy chewed the inside of her cheek. “No. But still. Nothing she does is without some deep plot.”
“Well, you have it now. Be sure to keep it someplace safe.”
“You can count on it.” She shook her head and went over to the couch, sagging onto the cushions. “What am I going to do for another week and a half? I can't just sit in my room waiting, wondering at all t
he plots around here. And what if my blood test results are bad? What then?”
Trent joined her on the couch. “I don't know.”
“I might have to escape after all. But if I do, I will not be staying in Montana. I prefer an entire continent between me and this compound.”
“What about me?”
“What about you? You're not a friggin' contaminant.”
“I mean, you can't go without me.”
Seffy knew she needed to calm down. She patted his knee. “Don't worry, once I'm gone, you'll find some new little obsession.”
He removed her hand, apparently offended. “You are not an obsession.”
“Oh, so you're buying into the whole toxic thing. Sorry. I got a little arrogant there.”
“Seffy, you know what I mean. If you leave, I'm coming with you.”
“What if I don't want you to?”
“That's not an option.”
“But you'll get in the way.”
He sent her a droll look. “Of what?”
“Of my romance with Michael Bay.”
Trent coughed for several seconds, then looked at her with incredulity. “Where did that come from?”
“It's always been my Plan B. Ask Lani and Gareth. If me and Gareth didn't work out, I would marry Michael Bay. He's single, good looking, rich...and I'd make a great little wife in the background helping him to spend all his money.”
“You're making that up. And don't forget you're in 1980 and he'd be like a teenager who doesn't have any money yet.”
Seffy wrinkled her nose. “Well, I'll just have to hope he's into cougars.”
“You know what, you are insane.” He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her. “Anyway, I don't believe you were ever that serious about Gareth.”
“You obviously don't know me as well as you think you do.”
He leaned forward, his gaze challenging. “What I know is this, that you were never in love with Gareth. You maybe loved him on some level, but it was never the real thing.”
“And I could say the same thing about you. You're not in love with me. You're a bored wolf who's picked the weakest of the herd to go after.”
Trent smirked. “You're just confirming my theory. Had you ever really been in love with Gareth, then you'd recognize it in me.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Seffy spent the rest of the day sulking in her room alone. She wished there was a better word for it, but there wasn't. She was pissed at Trent, pissed at Fiona, and even more pissed at herself. There were some things she couldn't control, but she could control her interaction with Trent. Instead he was always running the show, bossing her around, making her lose focus.
Then he left her to die of sheer boredom. He should be entertaining her right now. Somehow. Not that there was anything to do. But still. She touched the rhinestone J where it rested against her sternum. She'd threaded it onto a length of twine she'd found in one of the storage closets. Its slight itchiness reminded her of its presence.
Seffy briefly considered going to the Light Room, except that she technically didn't know how to get there. And she had no flashlight. And she'd probably risk another near-nooky episode with her next door neighbor.
God, she was bored.
She wandered over to the desk and found the paperwork containing her theories thus far. Seffy wondered if the intruder had read them. Maybe he'd made more sense of her list than she did. Without Gareth's input, help from Eugene, Fenn, and Fiona, and about a thousand other questions answered, there were just too many variables to make any sense of it.
Seffy went to the commons room and found a novel to read. Tucking her feet up on the plaid sofa, she was soon engrossed in someone else's problems—which were a lot easier to figure out than her own.
The door opened. She looked up and saw Trent there. He didn't appear pleased.
“You should tell me if you're going to leave.”
“I didn't leave. I just came here.”
He sighed. “It's time for dinner.”
Seffy stuck her nose in her book. “I don't feel like eating another granola bar compliments of Fugere.”
“You won't have to. I brought in something from the cafeteria and it's getting cold because you're dragging your feet.”
“How can I drag my feet when they're not even on the floor?”
“Let's go.”
See, I was right. Totally bossy. She got up and walked past him out into the hall, bringing the novel with her. As he walked alongside her, she continued to read, mostly to annoy him. His heavy sigh let her know it was working.
She forgot about the book when she arrived in his room. The heavenly aroma of hot chicken pot pie met her at the door. She saw the meal was rounded out with the ubiquitous flavored gelatin dessert and plastic-wrapped slices of chocolate pie.
“Sorry, I know it's not what Michael would've provided, but I tried.”
Seffy grinned at his discomfiture. “Yes, I can see that. It will do...for now.” She sat down and dug in, so thankful for something hot tears nearly squirted from her eyes.
After dinner, Trent cleared his throat. “I've been thinking where the best place in your room might be for me to stay tonight. I've decided that it's your bed.”
She burst out laughing. “Nice try.”
“No, seriously. You stay here in my room, and I'll pretend to be you in yours. That way you won't get hurt if someone does come in.”
“I don't want you to get hurt either.”
He smiled. “Hey, I'm wearing you down.”
Seffy thought about the idea and decided it would be better than him sleeping in the closet or under her bed. “Okay. What time is bed time?”
His eyes glittered with amusement. “Anytime, baby.”
“How about ten o'clock?”
“All right. What should we do until then?”
“Well, I don't want to presume to take up your evening. Perhaps you have other plans.”
“You're my plan. And unless you want to give each other hot oil body rubs followed by some serious cuddle time, I think you should come up with the evening's entertainment.”
Seffy made a face. “How about cards?”
Several hours later, they set their nighttime plan in motion.
Trent stood regarding her, his hands on his hips. “That looks really good on you.”
Seffy glanced up from the blankets, wondering if he was still fixated on her PJs. “What does?”
“My bed.”
She rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at him.
Trent caught it and tossed it back. “Are you sure we shouldn't just hide out here together?”
“Sorry. I really think we should go along with your superior idea.”
He frowned as he checked his watch. “It's after ten so I guess I'll go next door...alone.”
Getting comfortable on the pillow, she smiled and looked up at him.
Trent leaned over her, bracing his arms on the bed. “At least give me a good night kiss.”
Seffy regarded him for several moments. “I don't get it.”
“Get what?”
“I'm contaminated. Toxic. Aren't you afraid of catching the ick from me? Everyone else is.”
He leaned a little closer. “The problem is, I can't deal with the alternative.”
“Which is?”
“Not touching you.”
Her heart pounded a little harder. Seffy struggled to keep a clear head. If she wasn't careful, she just might start believing him. “Um, what if I think you're Gareth or Michael?”
“I'll make sure you don't.”
Her gaze dropped to his lips that were inching closer. “But I want to honor your conditions,” she said softly.
“It's just a goodnight thing. A tradition. No commitment required.”
“What if we can't stop?”
He hung his head. “God, Seffy, are you doing this on purpose?”
“I'm just using my robot logic.”
“Trust me, yo
u're using something a lot more elemental than logic.”
She took a deep breath. “Okay, just one little traditional peck.”
When he leaned down, she threaded her arms around his neck and brushed his lips with a whisper soft kiss. Trent groaned against her mouth and collapsed onto the bed, sliding his arms around her in a fierce embrace. Things got decidedly non-traditional fast.
She pulled away, respiration high. “Danger, Will Robinson.”
Trent opened his eyes, blinking in a dazed way. He slowly released her and stood up. Clearing his throat, he said, “If you need anything, I will be in the next room biting my pillow.”
***
Seffy spent a fitful night paying for her flirtation. Trent's kiss left her aching for more, made worse by the fact that she was wrapped in his scent all night. She was tempted to do a little pillow biting of her own.
At six, she climbed from the bed and crept down the passageway. As silently as possible, she eased open the closet door. Seffy found Trent awake, in her bed with his arms folded behind his head. She entered the room. “So nothing happened?”
He looked over at her, apparently not surprised to find her there. “No.”
“I guess that's a good thing, right?”
Trent scooted into a sitting position and regarded her with a sleepy face and rumpled hair. “Let's just say, either way, I'll be needing a nap today.”
Seffy walked over and perched on the edge of the bed. “I wonder what's going on around here.”
He reached out and took one of her hands, pressing it between his own. “Now, Sef, I don't want you to be offended, but I have to ask the question.”
She stared at him, trying to brace herself for what would come out of his mouth next. “Uh, okay.”
“Do you think it's possible that you're the one who messed up your room? You've done the sleepwalking thing before.”
Seffy slid her hand away and tucked it in her lap, fighting a feeling of huffiness. “I guess that's fair, but I told you I was with Lani all night.”
“Well, even if you were, you could've gone back to your room, turned everything upside down, and gone back to Lani's, right?”
“In theory. But back when I was wandering the halls, I was on drugs.”